What Price Honor?
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Tenno are not Samurai. They have more in common with Shinobi actually. But... Touch a Tenno's honor at your PERIL. This is a fanfiction. I won none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Honor**

As Karl ran, he contemplated. He was good at that. Most of the time, he preferred to be slow, to be deliberate in his actions. Once he had read a book that had spelled his philosophy out very well in small anecdotes that really hadn't seemed to make much sense when taken together. But when taken separately, there was much wisdom for any who followed a warrior's path. The name of the book had meant 'Hidden Leaves' in an ancient language. In it, the code of a group of warriors from an Old Earth region called Japan called samurai had been reflected upon.

Now, he was no samurai. He knew this. But the code that they had followed was very similar in many respects to the code _he_ followed. Justice, Bravery, Benevolence, Politeness, Veracity, Loyalty and Honor. These core precepts were no different for him than they had been for the warriors of ancient Japan. Historically, not all samurai had been paragons of virtue and he was hardly that himself, but to _strive_ to be something more than oneself? _That_ he could understand and admire. He tried very hard to adhere to the code even when many of his kin did not. It did not matter what others did. To him, the only thing that mattered was what _he_ did.

He slowed his run as he neared the area where his target had been last seen. Grineer Lieutenant Lech Kril was a piece of work. A war hero well known for his devastating attacks, the Grineer leader was a threat to every Tenno colony out there. The Lieutenant made little distinction between armed combatants and unarmed civilians. To him apparently, every non-Grineer was a combatant even if they were a newborn. That was beside the Grineer's extermination campaign against the Tenno. The Lotus had ordered the Grineer leader be stopped. So he would be stopped. Was it possible to stop a clone from being cloned again? Karl didn't know, but he _did_ know _this_ clone's days were numbered.

Karl slowed even further as a set of shadows detached from a wall nearby and became other Tenno. No one commented as he came up. He was the slowest of the group, but no one really cared. When facing someone like Kril, the sheer amount of armor a Rhino warframe carried was a deciding factor. He nodded to the others, an Ember, a Loki and a Mag. They nodded back silently as he took his place and checked his rifle. He loved this ancient relic that he had found and meticulously pieced back into working order. In form it was very similar to the Latron rifles that many of the Tenno used. In practice? It was demonstrateably far superior. The artisans of the Tenno had tried to reproduce it, but had failed. The technology needed for such a piece were lost with the Orokin age. Perhaps some bits and pieces survived in hidden places in the void, but for now, his Latron Prime was the only one. He didn't mind. It hit hard and accurately. He loved it.

He checked his other weapons in passing. The throwing blades he carried as a backup weapon were fast and quiet. Then the sword. Many who wore Rhino warframes preferred an axe or hammer for the sheer destructive ability. He had always preferred the sword. Oh, he could _use_ an axe or hammer with equal ease, but there was something about the Gram that called to him, that bid him to wield it in battle. With the proper modifications, it became a whirling death machine. He nodded to his kin who were also checking their weapons. The Loki who was their designated scout for this mission had moved to the edge of a cliff nearby, still in cover and now held up a hand.

'Target in sight.' The gestures read. But then. 'Unknown situation.' All four Tenno tensed and moved slowly to see what had the Loki stiffening in place.

Karl peered carefully out of cover, seeing a mass of Grineer standing around on a platform. They seemed to be in some kind of formation. Not that Karl could fathom their intricate combat maneuvers. For him, 'Combat Formation Bravo' was 'Move around like madmen and get slaughtered piecemeal'. But this was obviously a group and all were looking at... He paused. Lech Kril was easy to pick out, the distinctive set of armor was standing in front of the others. But another form in Grineer armor knelt at his feet. A female Grineer, one of their Ballista if he was not mistaken. There was something...off about her, but Karl wasn't sure what it was. His eyes widened as the Lieutenant's hammer came up and then down. The female Grineer flew away from Kril, her broken form landing in a heap on the far side of the platform.

"I know you are there, Tenno." Kril called from his spot. The squad with him immediately spun and started to take up firing positions. "I am Lieutenant Lech Kril, my hammer awaits your skull."

Karl looked at the others and they all nodded. They had been briefed on this Grineer and his arsenal. His hammer was his main weapon. Even Karl would have difficulty staving off attacks from the monstrosity that the Grineer was flourishing now. But that was his job, to hold the enemy's attention. He ran ponderously to the edge of the precipice and threw himself off. He flew through the air, not as gracefully as some of his kin might have managed, but when he landed in the midst of the squad of Grineer, no one cared. Part of that was the fact that he landed sword first and the resulting explosion of energy when elementally charged blade met gravitically charged floor... Well... _That_ squad of Grineer wasn't going to be bothering him -or anyone- ever again. He spun to face Kril who was lookign at him.

"Well, well, well..." The Grineer said softly for one of his kind. "An honorable Tenno. Not skulking for once. You dare face me in open combat, Tenno?"

In answer, Karl raised his blade into a ready position. Normal people would have difficulty holding a two handed sword with the hilt at their shoulder and the blade horizontal to the ground pointed at the enemy. Karl was NOT an ordinary person. He was not ordinary even for Tenno.

"Noble." The Grineer said, musing. "Stupid, but noble." He raised his hand and a wave of white spun from it, slamming into Karl who was frozen in place. The ice held the Tenno fast as the Grinner soldier approached, hammer high. "Pity, I was hoping for a fight."

Karl struggled and felt the ice weaken, but the hammer was coming around... Then Kril gave a cry as a blur hit him from behind and slammed two small things into the backpack he wore. The Loki warframe withdrew his Fang daggers and darted away avoiding the ponderous sweep that the enraged Grineer did to swat the annoyance that had stung him. Karl watched as the giant Grineer's backpack started to spark and smoke. Whatever the Loki had hit was important.

"I will kill you _all_!" Kril declared as he turned back to Karl. The Rhino braced himself and sure enough, a wave of ice slammed past him, but the Tenno had been prepared this time and the ice did not freeze him further.

As Karl flexed his muscles, the ice surrounding him cracked and gave way, but... His warframe was still white. Or.. covered in something. Kril snarled something vile and charged. Karl met him halfway.

There was no subtlety in this fight. There were precious few tricks. Kril tried a few, throwing out waves of fire that Karl ignored while his Iron Skin was active and avoided with ponderous grace when the iron sloughed off. The Grineer tried slamming the ground with his hammer and knocking Karl away, but the Rhino sprang back to his feet and reskinned himself, ignoring the red stress warning his warframe was showing on his HUD and charged back in.

Titan fought titan, two gods of war locked in an epic struggle. Kril was fast and heavily armored. His hammer strikes had immense power but were ponderous and Karl avoided most. Karl's sword was much faster, but he found he had difficulty hurting Kril. Even with mods, his sword turned on armor half the time. Maybe _he_ should have brought a hammer. Kril connected with something and the Tenno found himself flat on his back. He spun to his feet, but Kril was swinging impotently at a hologram that stood there, firing an illusionary Lato at him. Karl smirked a little as he caught his breath. He loved working with Lokis.

Karl took a step forward, his sword up vertical as the Tenno took a deep breath and then expelled it as he sliced down and at an angle. His grunt warned Kril, who spun, but that put the knee of the giant Grineer more directly in line with the edge of Karl's Gram. As Karl connected and felt his sword go home into flesh, he saw fire blossom around the huge form. The Ember had joined the party. She and the Mag had been tasked to handle Grineer reinforcements. Kril screamed in agony as his leg buckled under the flames and sword stroke. His armor, like a warframe, would heal even that massive wound in time, but Karl gave him no chance to recover.

Kril raised his hammer to try and ward off the dancing two handed sword, but again and again it licked past, chopping bits of armor and bits of Grineer. Finally, Karl managed a solid strike to the vitals and Kril fell to his knees with a grunt. His hammer fall from nerveless fingers and the Grineer stared up at Karl, his face still hidden by his visor, but his posture dumbstruck.

"Well... fought... Tenno..." The Grineer said softly, holding his guts in with both hands. "You... bested me with honor. Let... me keep... my honor?" He asked. Karl nodded and the Grineer bowed his head, exposing a weak spot. Karl's sword fell like a thunderbolt and the Grineer giant slumped without a sound, his head rolling away.

Karl stepped away from the corpse, shaking his Gram to clean the mess off it as the Loki ran up, scanning the fallen giant's armor to seek any useable technology. Often, Grineer leaders had blueprints and other neat techie toys hidden about their person. Karl had no idea why. He took stock. His armor was a mess, he was bleeding internally in two places, but his warframe was already healing the damage. A red lit section of text screamed to seek repairs and he sighed as he computed the cost this time. A touch on his arm had him pausing. He looked up into the faceplate of the Mag. His sister's posture was worried, but eased when he nodded and made a hand gesture for 'Nominal. She replied with one for 'Tough'. She waved to the body and he shook his head, he wanted nothing to do with looting an honorable enemy.

The Mag shrugged and went over to where the Ember had joined the Loki, all three scanning the armor, finding things and pulling them off. He didn't...blame them. Not really. This was a war, and there were precious few rules in war. But it felt...wrong. He recited the code under his breath as he walked to he side, but paused as a sound intruded on his contemplation of his honor. His sword was in hand as he looked for the source. Again, he heard it. A groan. The other three Tenno were busy so he walked to the side and found the female Grineer that the lieutenant had slammed before the fight with the Tenno had begun. Something was off about her though and he couldn't figure out what. Then he realized. She didn't have cybernetics in place of her legs like all the other Grineer he had ever seen! His eyes went wide under his Thrak Helmet as he stared at the two human looking legs encased in Grineer armor.

_What the...?_ Karl shook his head and did a fast scan of the female Grineer. She was badly injured, but her armor had saved her life and was healing her to the best of it's ability. Which wasn't saying much. Grineer went for quantity over quality most of the time and it showed. She had a concussion among other injuries and she was semiconscious.

A soft noise pulled his attention to where the others had finished their scans. He shook his head and pointed at the female Grineer. The Loki paused and drew his daggers, stepping forward. Both females looked to be readying their powers, but everything paused as Karl raised a hand and did something he very, _very_ rarely did.

_Lotus._ He asked the voice inside his head. _We have found an abnormal_ _Grineer female. She was injured by our target for some unknown reason. She has legs instead of prosthesis. Kill her?_

_No. _The response was immediate unequivocal. _Bring her._

Karl nodded and held a hand over the fallen female Grineer. She woke and screamed in agony as the energy washed over her, but then it tapered away into nothing as he stored her data in his warframe's buffer. The others were obviously staring at him and Karl shrugged as he started off. They would reach the exit long before him, but would clear the way a bit as well as sowing confusion. They didn't mind him being slow. Not when it kept them alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Repairs**

"Well?" Karl asked as he stood near one wall of the repair bay. The tech he was talking to growled at him and Karl bit back a sigh. "Lou..."

He leaned against the wall, careful to keep from running into anything. One of the first things a big guy who wanted to be a decent sort learned was when to use his strength and when not to. His warframe was big, but so was he. His short dark hair was slick with seat and his hazel eyes were tired. He hadn't slept well. Worry had gnawed at him despite his best efforts to move past it.

Getting back to the extraction point had been time consuming, but not hard. He had seen more red on his HUD though, so as soon as he had dropped off his prisoner, he had checked his warframe and flinched at what he found. So he had asked around. All of the techs he had asked had voiced the same thing. So he had tried a long shot. Lou was a friend. A strange friend, but a friend. Lou was also the single best tech that Karl had ever met. Now if only he would take off the tinfoil hat he wore. The tech was sitting at a diagnostic station, his face buried in a readout, but then he sat back with a groan.

"Look, Karl..." The Tenno tech said slowly. He ran a hand through his gray hair, obviously trying not to curse. "I _know_ you are a shield for your team, but geez..." He waved a hand at a monitor nearby. On it, Karl's Rhino warframe was displayed, much of it glowing red. "You overstressed _every single myomer actuator_. There are _three thousand_ of those. Half of the neural feeds are redlined... The _only_ thing working as intended on this hunk of junk is the skin coating and _it_ seems to be spouting random stuff on the diagnostics." The man's voice turned acerbic. "And you want me to _fix_ this?"

"I know how much damage I took." Karl said softly. "I wasn't given a choice, Lou. I had to hold the guy's attention. If he had hit the Loki, Ember or Mag as hard as he hit me..."

"I know." Lou deflated a bit. "We would have lost someone." He sighed as he looked at the readout. "Aw, man, Karl.. I dunno..."

"I came to you because you are the best, Lou." Karl said softly. "If you can't fix it, then I will get a new one." He repressed a wince at that. He had funds and resources, just not an unlimited amount.

"I didn't say I can't fix it." Lou said with a scowl. "But it won't be cheap and I don't know if it will hold up as well as a new one. And if I do it, the repairs won't be quick. If you _do_ want to go back out immediately... You better get building. You have the blueprints?"

"I have the blueprints." Karl agreed softly. "And resources to make a new one. I was just hoping..." He sighed. "Ah well, the docs want to see me anyway. Any idea...?"

"Couple of days at the very least." Lou said with a frown. "You okay? Just looking at this..." He winced.

"Yeah." Karl said with a shrug. "Cracked some bones and some internal bruising. But the warframe did it's job. I am only as good as my tools, Lou."

"Yeah." Lou agreed. But then he shook his head. "Karl... I don't like saying this, but I am going to. Get a new one." Karl froze and Lou nodded. "I can refurbish it, make it _almost_ as good as new, but... the way you stress these things, Karl..." He looked sick for a moment. "It wouldn't hold up. Parts of it would give out at bad times."

"I...see..." Karl said with a slow nod.

"I know you have had this warframe since you passed training, Karl." Lou said gently. "But that is part of the problem. Weapons tech had upgraded since then. Mods can only do so much."

"Its a warframe." Karl said with a sigh. "A tool. The only weapon..." He paused as Lou nodded and they finished the quote in unison. "...resides between our ears." Karl bowed his head and then spoke softly. "I'll get my fabricator to start making a new frame."

"Make sure to upgrade its security." Lou said with a nod. "The Lotus will want to keep tabs on you, use you..." He froze as Karl did. Karl took a moment to quell the black rage that surged within him. It served no purpose. Lou shook his head. "Karl..." When Karl replied it was calm and cool.

"You may believe whatever you wish, Lou." Karl spoke in a precise manner. Lou didn't move. He knew Karl only spoke like that when he was _beyond _infuriated. "Your conspiracy theories are...misguided to my eyes and ears. But they are _your_ theories, _your_ perceptions, not mine. Do not include me in your delusions. Thank you for your time, technician Lou. I will see your time is paid." Lou went stiff at that. This had been a consultation between friends. He had just insulted his friend, badly.

"It wasn't an insult, Karl!" Lou protested. "I didn't mean..."

"You believe the Lotus is using us." Karl said flatly. "You believe the Lotus is evil." He shrugged. "Maybe she _is_ using us. Maybe she _is_ evil. I don't know. What I _do_ know is that I swore an oath. I swore to fight, to defend those who could not defend themselves. We were called, we answered the call. We are Tenno, it is what we do. You are not my enemy Lou." He said, unbending a bit. "Don't make yourself my enemy." He said as he turned to go.

"I..." Lou seemed to wilt in his chair. "I am sorry, Karl. I didn't mean to insult you. I don't... I don't get a lot of communication these days."

"_You_ cut yourself off the network, Lou." Karl said flatly. "_You_ decided we were all fools or tools." He shook his head. "You are still kin, Lou. Even if you do not believe it, you have a place among us."

"I..." Lou stammered, but Karl was gone.

The angry Tenno stalked through the halls of the Tenno colony, careful to avoid people. He had learned, very early on, that anyone his size was dangerous even when he didn't want to be. He had hurt people by accident in training. But then a soft voice form nearby had him pausing.

"Aw geez..." The female voice said from the shadows. "Who pulled the Rhino's tail _this_ time...?" A figure in a warframe stepped out into view, a Banshee in black. Karl...froze.

"Serene?" He asked carefully. Then he kicked himself Serene was on medical retirement, she wasn't capable of walking, let alone wearing a warframe again.

"No, Karl." The female Tenno said kindly. "I am Two."

"The..ah..." He broke off, unsure as to what he was going to say.

"You can say it, Karl." Two said in a soft voice. "I am a copy."

"From what I understand..." Karl said evenly. "Not that I understand it all, mind you... You are a duplicate. An exact copy of Serene up to the point she was captured by the Corpus." The Banshee nodded. "So... You remember..."

"I do." Two said warmly. "But... I am not Serene, Karl."

"Probably just as well." Karl said with a nod. "One of her is crazy enough. Two of her? The mind boggles."

"I am... separate." Two said with a nod. "I have my own life, my own relationships. I treasure what I remember. What...we had." Karl bowed his head as she did. "You were... a perfect knight." She said with a catch in her voice. "I did not deserve you."

"We were both young." Karl said quietly. "We both made mistakes."

"I have to say this, even if she does not." Two said in a sad voice. "I was wrong. To say what I did , to do what I did. I had no right to do that to you. It was cruel and unjust and I am sorry."

"I learned a lot." Karl said in a kind voice. "I wasn't blameless, Ser- Uh, Two. I shouldn't have asked you what I did. I was young and stupid and both of us were on track to the Warrior's path."

"I am sorry I reported your proposal." Two said as if she hadn't heard him. "I am sorry I got you in trouble and oh my god I am sorry I felt good about it."

"We both said things we regretted." Karl said with a nod. "I had time to think, in my time in solitary medication. I was young and ruled by my hormones. That is _not_ a good way to extend a relationship. Even between Warriors, maybe _especially_ between Warriors."

"I had to apologize anyway." Two said with a sigh. "I found someone else. Well, I did, not Serene. She has walked alone. Ever since." Karl went stiff again.

"Two... That was... She..." He stammered, broken out of his training by the sheer horror of what the female was telling him. "She hasn't... _since me_?" He demanded. Two shook her head silently and Karl sighed. "You found that human, what is her name? Amelia?" Two nodded. "But she..." He broke off and sighed. "Why tell me?"

"Serene needs you." Two said flatly. "She needs you badly."

"Two." Karl said his spine straightening. "She made her choice. I abide by it."

"She needs you." Two pressed. "You are the _only_ one she is likely to listen to, Karl." The male Tenno shook his head and the banshee actually snarled. "She isn't _eating_, Karl!"

"That is a job for a doc." Karl said with a sigh. "Not me."

"The docs have done what they can." Two said, calming slightly. "She ignores what they say. They put in tubes and she yanks them out no matter how well they are secured. She ignores Iriana. She is ignoring _Sara_ for goodness sakes!" Two sounded almost in tears. "I watched her little girl beg Serene to eat and Serene just turned her face away."

"I am not a shrink, Two." Karl said softly.

"She doesn't _need_ a shrink, Karl." Two said with a trace of heat. "She needs a boot to the butt. She needs _you_."

"Why me?" Karl asked after a moment.

"Because she is still in love with you." Two said with a sigh. Karl shook his head and Two snarled at him. "I have her memories, okay? She_ is_."

"I am not the hormone driven brat I was." Karl said softly. "She isn't who _she_ was."

"She doesn't need hormones, Karl." Two said quietly. "She needs a purpose. She needs a reason to exist. We thought she had that in Sara, but then she just...disconnected. Karl, please. Do I need to _beg?_" She asked.

"If you have _any_ of Serene's memories, you know me better than _that_." Karl snapped. "I just... I don't think it's a good idea. She may just need time." The male Tenno said as he forced himself to calm down.

"She may not _have_ time." Two replied. "She is fading. You know what happened? What she did?" Karl nodded silently. "The AI talked to her. Tried to take control." Karl swore softly. "Yeah. What she did is tearing her apart. We are losing her, Karl. Please, try?" Two asked, on the edge of begging anyway.

"I give you my word, I will do what I can." Karl said with a sigh. "That is all I can say. If she won't hear me..." He trailed off, the unspoken loud in his ears.

"She won't hear any of _us_." Two bowed her head in sorrow. "I am scared, Karl. I don't want to lose her... Not again." Karl bowed his head. He had heard, along with the rest of the Tenno, what had happened to Serene. Two stepped close, her voice a sad whisper. "If you can't help her, she is lost. Please, brother."

"I will do what I can, Two." Karl had a faint sense of unease as he promised the other Serene. "But I can't promise anything."

"I know." Two said with a shrug. "Serene kinda defines hard headed, doesn't she?" She asked with a grin in her voice. Karl just looked at her and Two laughed. "There is one more thing..."

Karl raised an eyebrow and waited. Two reached up and undid her helmet. The face that appeared was familiar to Karl, but... subtly not. She had been crying. She met his eyes with a steady gaze.

"Even if she does not say this, I have to." Two said quietly, but formally. "What I did was wrong. I had no right to get you in trouble. I had no right to go to the elders when you scared me with your proposal. I had no _right_ to tell them you _forced_ me."

"They knew." Karl said softly. "They didn't punish what the code demands for rape. They knew."

"_I had no right!_" The second Serene snapped. "What I did was wrong, unforgivable. I..." She shook her head. "That is why Serene walked alone. Her penance. For what she did to you."

"Serene was sixteen, Two." Karl said quietly. "I was seventeen. Neither of us was blameless. Both of us were punished. Let go of this self hate, Two."

"I..." Two shook her head. "I don't know if I can. You were always so much better than... Than Serene."

"Not true." Karl shook his head. "I am one dimensional, Two. It is what I am. My honor is all I am now. I serve because I must, and I fight because I must. Honor demands no less than everything I am, everything I have and can do. I will help Serene if I can. But I may not be able to."

"May I approach?" Two asked carefully. Karl nodded and she stepped right up to him. "I am sorry." She said as she bowed her head in submission. He put a finger under her chin, lifted it up and looked her in the eyes.

"We were both children." Karl said gently. "But since you are demanding _some_ kind of punishment..." He slapped her across the face, hard. She didn't recoil, indeed she took the blow. She retreated a step and nodded, a red mark appearing on her cheek.

"Thank you." Two said quietly as she turned to go but paused as Karl coughed. "Yes?".

"Two, wait..." Karl heard himself say. He sighed inwardly as he stepped up to her, took her in his arms and kissed her hard. "I am sorry too." He released her, stepped back and held his head up as if inviting a slap from her.

"If I slap you with my warframe on..." Two said dubiously, staring at the long metal fingernails of her Banshee armor. "I will put you in the hospital."

"I am tough." Karl said quietly.

"She will hit you." Two said softly. "She will scream at you. She will call you all kinds of nasty things. Please... Help her?" Two begged, her face falling.

"I will do what I can, Two." Karl promised as she faded back into the shadows, her helmet sealing. "I will do what I can." He said with a sigh as he started off. Not towards his ship and a new warframe to build, but towards the medical wards.


	3. Chapter 3

**Visiting**

As Karl entered the medical wards, he was taken aback by the nurse behind the desk. She wasn't Tenno. She wasn't human. Her name badge read 'Nika'.

"May I help you, Tenno?" What had to be a female Grineer wearing scrubs asked in a polite tone. Nothing else was quite so...muscular. Karl nodded and took a moment to make sure his tone was polite before he spoke.

"Karl, to see Serene." He said quietly. The nurse looked at him and he nodded. "I don't have an appointment."

"Are you in her clan?" The nurse asked cautiously. Karl stared at her and she shrugged. "We are limiting her visitors. Healer's orders. She...isn't well."

"I heard. How bad?" Karl breathed. The nurse shook her head and he slumped. "Look, _Two_ asked me to come by. Can I talk to Sara or Iriana?" The nurse actually snarled and Karl could definitely see Grineer in the woman now.

"If you are trying to recruit Sara... Her final answer was 'No'." The nurse said with a snap. "She has had it up to here..." She indicated her shoulders which stood a _long_ way off the floor even sitting as she was. "...with idiots who cannot get it through their heads that she isn't _interested_ in the Warrior's path!"

"People have been bothering her?" Karl asked slowly, not sure he understood. The nurse paused in her tirade and nodded. Karl sighed. "It seems Tenno are capable of stupidity just like any others these days. To answer your question: No..." He said quietly. "I am not here to recruit. I am here to talk to Serene. We were...close once. Two seems to think I can get through to her." The nurse deflated a bit.

"I hope _someone_ can." The nurse said sadly. "She is one step away from going on full support and if that happens, she will go mad. If she hasn't already. Losing her legs was bad enough..." The nurse patted her own and Karl could see they were the normal prosthetics that Grineer females had. "I...probably shouldn't say this but I will. She is already hearing things." Karl perked up.

"What kinds of things?" Karl asked slowly. "Do you know?" The nurse shook her head.

"No." She admitted. "She won't talk about it, but... I hear her singing in her sleep on the monitors we have in her room. It's...odd, but beautiful." She paused as Karl stiffened. "That isn't good, is it?"

"She talked to something that took control of people's minds, Nurse." Karl said with a sigh. "No, it isn't good."

"I am not cleared for much of that information." The nurse said uneasily. "What little I _do_ know scares me. I will see if Iriana is busy. Sara is staying with Serene. Trying to get that silly Tenno to eat." She started tapping keys.

"Scares anyone with sense." Karl agreed. "I can wait."

"Waiting area there." The nurse waved towards a set of chairs. "Try not to break anything." She said with a smile.

"I prefer to kneel." Karl said with a nod. "Faster to get up and less chance of breaking things." The nurse nodded to him. People their size had to be extra careful with things around them. Chairs, walls, people...

The Tenno knelt in the middle of the small waiting area and thought. He did not like where his thoughts were taking him. He had put his feelings for Serene behind him. He had his duty. He had his honor. Nothing else mattered. He began a series of mental exercises designed to promote calm. He had the feeling he would need them. He pulled his emotions out and examined each in detail.

He still loved her. She had been the first love of his life. There had been others, since, but none had ever possessed quite the flair, quite the dark charm of Serene. He hated her. She had gone to great lengths to get him in trouble after they had broken up. The Elders had been...less than enthused with a clandestine physical relationship between two young Tenno. At least there hadn't been a kid. _That_ would have been even more of a mess. He admired her. She was fierce, wild and free. And...he despised her. Her methods of fighting were...wrong for him. Stealth and sneaking were not wrong, per say, but she lived it. She would go around an enemy position, taking an extra hour just to not be seen. He was more direct, always had been. She snuck around just to do it and that bothered his sense of how things should be done. He worked to understand the emotions, make them easier to deal with. Some just wouldn't cooperate though. A throat cleared nearby and he jerked as he came out of his meditation.

A brown haired Tenno in a medical tunic was standing out of reach. She wore the badge of a healer. That wasn't normal for medical professionals so this had to be Iriana. He nodded to her.

"Healer?" Karl asked. "I apologize. I was...distracted."

"I understand." The healer said with as nod. "I am too. Having suddenly _two_ little girls and one big problem has been... daunting."

"Two?" Karl asked as he rose carefully.

"Yes." Iriana said with a smile. "Mishka is my biological child. She understands what has happened and she likes Sara." She did not react as Karl stretched. He had been sitting for a while. "Two said she was going to talk to someone, but why you?" She asked curiously.

"I grew up with Serene." Karl said quietly. "We...well, we had something between us. It didn't work out." Iriana's eyes widened and her face softened in understanding. Karl sighed and continued. "I don't know if I can help. I don't owe her anything. I don't even like her, but..." He shrugged.

"You really don't like her, now, do you?" Iriana asked carefully. Karl shook his head. Iriana sighed and shook hers. "That is _your_ business, not mine. But if she sent you... Two seems to think you can get through. Why?"

"Two seems to think Serene still loves me." Karl said with another shrug. "I dunno. I will do her the service I would do for any kin in trouble though. No more."

"It was...bad then." Iriana said softly. "What happened between you two." It wasn't a question.

"It was bad." Karl agreed. "We were both teenagers, clueless and in lust. Does it _ever_ go well?" He asked sourly. Iriana winced and nodded.

"Not in my experience." Iriana said mildly, but then she sobered. "Are you a threat to Serene, Tenno?" She asked bluntly. Karl did her the courtesy of thinking for a moment.

"Physically, no." Karl said with a nod. "I didn't hit her when she provoked me and hit me, when we... well..." He broke off and grimaced.

"When you broke up." Iriana said quietly. Karl nodded. "And emotionally?"

"I don't know." Karl admitted. "I am still finding jagged edges of my own emotions. And I know better than to try and figure her out. I spent the first seventeen years of my life with her and I never figured her out. I give you my word I will _try_ not to hurt her. But from what Two has said...she may need a jolt or two."

"That... might work." Iriana said a bit dubiously. "We have tried reasoning with her. We have tried appealing to her. But both Sara and I are too nice to scream at her."

"I don't want to disturb any other patients." Karl said uneasily. "I can be kind of loud." He warned. Iriana raised an eyebrow and Karl shrugged. "I am not sneaky by nature."

"Let me guess..." Iriana said with a smile. "Rhino?" She asked. Karl nodded. "Maybe she does need some good old fashioned butt kicking. The room does have sound baffles that I can set up. Can you swear not to physically harm her?"

"I heard about her legs." Karl said with a shudder. "I won't hit her, even if she hits me." He promised.

"Karl..." Iriana said sadly. "She is too weak to offer anything but token physical violence. She hasn't eaten in four days. Sara has managed to get her to sip water in her sleep. But every time we try to put an IV in to hydrate her, she gets loose from whatever we use and pulls it out."

"Yuck." Karl grimaced and Iriana shared it. "She was always boneheaded, but that's extreme." He paused. "Any sign of nanobots?"

"You have faced the Tower guardians too." Iriana's words were not a question. Karl did not react and Iriana shook her head. "No. No sign of anything that shouldn't be there. No nanobots detected anywhere in her systems. No cranial deformity. Nothing extraneous attached to her head. She is just... detached from us all."

"Anything else odd?" Karl asked, perplexed.

"She sings in her sleep." Iriana said dubiously. "No one seems to be able to recognize the language though Jasmina said it might be Orokin in origin, but..." She trailed off as Karl inhaled sharply. "What?"

"Have you recorded it?" Karl asked slowly.

"Why?" Iriana asked just as slowly. Karl shook himself before answering.

"One of the things that drew us together as children was music." Karl said softly. "I know what music she preferred before..." He swallowed. "Before the War. Now?" He shrugged. "I haven't had any contact with her since I woke from cryosleep. Truth be told, I avoided her and her clan."

"I can't say I blame you if you had such a bad experience with her." Iriana said with a sigh. "Let me see..." She pulled out a data pad and keyed it alive. "Ah... Yes, here we go." She held out the pad to Karl and he took it. Soft singing came from the pad and Karl's eyes narrowed. It was Serene's voice, but... not. The music though... "Do you know it?"

"The words are familiar. She is singing an ancient battle song's lyrics. " Karl said, still listening. "But the tune... is different..." He shook his head. "I don't recognize the tune." He held the pad back out to Iriana who took it.

"At least now we know she isn't spouting gibberish." Iriana said with a sigh. "We were worried about that."

"It's still not good." Karl said with a scowl. "That song is obscure. No one has sung 'The March of Cambreadth' in centuries. It's a good song, but not for the faint of heart."

"Hmmm." Iriana said with a nod. "_You_ know it though?"

"I do." Karl said, his face impassive and Iriana froze.

"Oh." Iriana said slowly. "You taught it to her, didn't you?" Karl did not answer and she slumped a bit. "I am sorry."

"Not your fault." Karl shrugged. "Want me to talk to her? I should probably do it alone."

"She under observation and will be until we can help her... or not." Iriana said heavily. "But no one else will be physically present. One thing..." She hesitated and Karl looked at her. "You wanted kids, didn't you?" Karl stared at her and Iriana pursed her lips. "My...partner...left... because I wanted to keep Mishka and he didn't." Karl went stiff and she nodded. "I wasn't going to abort her, she was blameless. I was going to put her up for adoption, but then she was there... and beautiful." Old pain sounded in the healer's voice, but none shone on her face.

"You have my sympathy, Healer." Karl said quietly. "Although you have managed well for yourself."

"Coming from a Warrior, that means a lot." Iriana acknowledged. "There is no easy way to say this. The Corpus made children from Serene. Sara is one of them." Karl nodded, this was known. Iriana looked bleak. "Note I said 'children'." Karl froze.

"'Children'?" Karl asked softly. "How many?"

"We don't know." Iriana said sadly. "According to records Serene recovered, there were ten total who were flash grown from genetic samples taken from her. Her eggs. She..." The healer broke off, overcome.

"Healer..." Karl asked slowly. "What happened?" Iriana shook herself and obviously forced herself to be calm.

"Serene went to the Corpus facility." Iriana said soberly. "She found one of the girls just as the Corpus removed the girl's brain and placed it in a new kind of MOA. She was nearly captured again by the Corpus, but was saved by her daughter who had managed to take control of the MOA. During the escape, the MOA was destroyed, killing Sierra, Serene's second daughter. Sara's sister."

"My god..." Karl said, his face turning ashen.

"It gets worse." Iriana said, her face falling. "Serene was in the middle of a Corpus base. She was surrounded by who knew how many enemies. She had to escape, but she wanted to keep the Corpus from making _another_ child from her. She found the vault where they stored her genetic samples..." She swallowed.

"What did she do?" Karl asked, a trickle of fear seeping through him.

"She destroyed the samples." Iriana said sadly. "She couldn't find them quickly and..." She broke off as Karl laid a huge hand on her shoulder.

"She did the right thing." Karl said slowly. "The right thing is rarely the easy thing. She... did not take it well, did she?"

"No." Iriana said sadly. "Between losing Sierra, and then..." She swallowed. "She wasn't very lucid for a while. She was coming around through. Then she relapsed."

"I will talk to her." Karl said with a sigh. "I don't know what I might be able to do, but I _will_ talk to her."

"That is all I can..." Iriana broke off as a sobbing form ran towards her, only to collide with Karl who froze in place. The little girl rebounded off him and landed on her rump, stunned by the impact. Little girl versus tree trunk sized leg is no contest. "Sara?" Iriana asked, concerned as she reached for the sobbing girl.

"Iriana!" The girl cried, swarming into the healer's arms. "She called me names. She told me to get out!"

"Oh Sara..." Iriana said soothingly as she hugged the distraught girl. "You know Serene doesn't mean it. She isn't lucid right now."

"She is confused." Karl agreed. "Even at her worst, Serene would never have said those kinds of things to a little girl." Sara looked up at him and stiffened. He tilted his head to the side and smiled at her. "Yes?" He inquired.

"You are big." Sara said, unsure.

"You are not." Karl replied equably. "But you will grow."

"Are you a giant?" Sara asked softly, scared.

"What?" Karl asked in a mocking tone. "Fe Fi Fo Fum from the old folk tales?" He grinned at her, to put her at ease and she relaxed a bit. "No. I am not a giant. I am big yes, but not _that_ big. Besides, then there is the whole 'eating people' thing and yuck, they would taste _terrible_." He smiled at her, obviously still humorous. "How do you think _you_ would taste?" Sara laughed at that, her sadness put aside.

"Tough and stringy. Lots of salt at the moment." Sara said with a grin. "I am Sara." She held out a hand. Iriana held her loosely, not confining, just there.

"Karl." The male Tenno said, taking Sara's hand and giving a shake before releasing it. "I am here to help if I can."

"Can you help her?" Sara begged. "She won't hear me. She doesn't seem to hear any of us. She just keeps humming that odd tune."

"Humming?" Karl asked, concerned. "The same music?" Sara looked at Iriana who nodded.

"Serene says the reactor sang to her." Iriana said with a wince. "That they sang together." Karl's eyes widened and then he nodded slowly.

"Orokin musics are... hard to remember." Karl said slowly. "The song she was singing in her sleep wasn't Orokin, but..." He mused. "It _is_ close to a few Orokin tunes. I think... It's been a long time." He said quietly. "If so, I know how to wake her up." Both females looked at him expectantly and he sighed. "You are not going to like it..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Reverberations**

"I..." Sara shook her head slowly. "I know I can't help, but..." She bent down to kiss Serene's still cheek. "She is so cold." The girl said, her face abject.

"She is in some kind of stasis, Sara." Iriana said gently as she stood by the bed that Sara had crawled up on. "A deep, deep sleep. She is alive, hold to that." Sara nodded and looked to where Karl stood, separate from the group of Tenno that stood around Sara, Iriana and Serene in her bed. Serene's clan mates were _not_ happy.

"Tell me again." Sara said quietly.

"I believe Serene is hearing an Orokin song. That is why she doesn't respond to any outside stimulus. That is why she fights when people try to help her, it distracts her from the music. " Karl said patiently. "They were...mesmerizing, Sara. Much Orokin tech was designed to be entrancing, to assist users in merging their minds with the machinery."

"You really think _that_ is why the reactor didn't melt down?" The closest Tenno asked sourly. Jasmina was _not_ happy at all. "It _talked_ to her?"

"No." Karl corrected quietly. "As she said... It sang to her. I only have surmises, and many of the records of the Age have been lost. But..." He shrugged. "From what I have seen, she is acting as if she isn't all here. I...remember that happening to me." Sara inhaled sharply and Karl nodded. "I was young, and a bit foolish." He spoke to Sara as if he and she were the only ones in the room. "I went to an Orokin tower and sang something. It sang back and I... I was lost in the glory. Luckily, there were other Tenno with me who were more accustomed to the lures and they pulled me out. I was distracted and I nearly lost my mind as a result."

"So... The reactor hurt her?" Sara asked, confused. "Intentionally?"

"No." Karl shook his head. "What happened was probably unintentional. In my own case, I activated a automated storage system. A locker if you will. Serene probably hit the reactor control panel somehow. From what others have said, she was trying to get the reactor to stop, any way she could. The reactor probably sensed her wishes and shut down as a result. Orokin technology was..." He grimaced slightly. "Well... The lines between organic and synthetic were blurred. The lines between sentient and non sentient as well."

"Are you saying it was alive?" Sara asked incredulous. But Jasmina was nodding slowly. "Jasmina?" The girl asked, concerned.

"Not alive, Sara." The female Tenno said in a worried voice. "But smart. You think she was pulled in?" She asked Karl. He nodded. "Why?" She demanded.

"Because she was a mess." Karl said bluntly. "She had just watched a daughter trapped in an evil machine _die_. She had just had to kill who knows _how_ many other children of hers to keep them from horror unimaginable. You may not like me, you may not trust me, I don't care." He said quietly. "Two asked my aid and I will give it. Once this is done, I am gone."

"Can't be too soon." Jasmina said darkly. "I don't trust you. She has been hurt enough." Sara and Iriana both looked worried, but Karl actually smiled.

"Good." He said quietly. "Don't. My quarrels with Serene are personal. They are not germane at this juncture. Two asked for help and I will give it." He repeated. "Lead, follow or get out of the way, Tenno." Karl said soberly as he shifted his stance.

"Wait, what?" Sara exclaimed, stiffening. "No!" She cried as all the Tenno around the bed shifted as well, blocking Karl. "Don't! Fighting each other won't help!"

"I gave Two my word." Karl said softly. "I keep my word."

"You can't win!" Sara said, jumping from the bed and running to him. "Don't!"

"Whether I can win or not is immaterial, Sara." Karl said gently as he eased her aside with a hand. "I gave my word."

"And _she_ asked _us_ to keep you from her." Jasmina said with a snap. "We gave her _our_ words." Karl went completely still as Jasmina did. Both were ready to fight.

"Stop." Iriana's soft voice cut through the soaring tension like a knife. "Everybody, calm down. Now." She commanded. She moved to stand between Jasmina and Karl. Jasmina snarled, but relaxed slightly. When she did, Karl did as well. "We medical types can't help her, Jasmina. We can't find anything wrong with her except her legs." Iriana said quietly. "Can you?" The female Tenno Warrior shook her head. Iriana pursed her lips and looked at Karl. "You can?"

"I can break her out of her trance." Karl said quietly, still not relaxing completely. "But that is only half the problem. She desires the music now. She wants it, she needs it."

"You are talking as if she was addicted." Iriana said with a shiver.

"She is." Karl said with a nod. "And right now, she is in withdrawal. If this goes on much longer, she will die." He said calmly and succinctly.

"_You_ are sworn to help her..." Iriana said with a wince. "And _they_ are sworn to keep you away from her." She sighed. "What a mess. I _would_ put this to the Elders..." She broke off as Karl coughed. "I know. She doesn't have time for them to debate." She shook her head. "Is it hard to do?" She asked. Karl froze.

"No. it is not." Karl admitted, manifestly against his will. "But there _is_ danger. I will not place _you_ in danger, healer." He said with a snap. He shook his head. "I will not place _any_ non-combatants in danger."

"Well, _my_ honor demands I help my patient, even if she was not my sister." Iriana snapped. "We are losing her by inches while you debate points of honor. Tell _me_ what to do. That satisfies _your_ honor _and_ theirs."

"Healer..." Karl was begging now. "Don't." Jasmina turned to face her too, her face ashen. "You don't understand. Do not ask this of me. Please."

"My sister is _dying_, Tenno." Iriana snarled, no less angry than any of the others. She stepped towards Karl who backed up a step. Sara stared around in shock, but didn't move.

"Iriana... no..." Jasmina said, her face scared. "Don't..." She moved to block the healer.

"Serene is _dying_, Jasmina!" Iriana shouted. "Get out of my way!"

Everything suddenly stopped as Karl knelt. Every face went white as he produced a small blade. But... His free hand opened his shirt and then both grasped the hilt and aimed it at his own belly. The blade was odd. It was...gold, but not. Orokin technology obviously. But unlike any Iriana had ever seen.

"I cannot do what you ask, Healer." Karl said sadly. "And I cannot stand by and allow Serene to pass without trying. You leave me no alternatives."

"_Why?_" Iriana just about screamed. "Why can I not know this?" Karl bowed his head and Iriana growled. "Don't look away from me, Tenno!"

"He can't say, Iriana." Jasmina said softly. "He is sworn, as am I. As are we all." Her hand indicated the other Tenno nearby, who had all frozen when Karl prepared to suicide. "Please, just accept that we cannot tell you. That we cannot share this. Ever. On pain of death by our own hands."

"You..." Iriana went completely still as Jasmina knelt as Karl had, a similar blade appearing in _her_ hand. "Jasmina, no..."

"Please, healer." Jasmina begged. "Do not ask. Please?" Iriana was shaking as she stepped back, her face stricken. "Your idea _is_ sound, healer." Jasmina said as the blade in her hand vanished. "What say you?" She asked Karl whose blade had likewise disappeared.

"Are _you_ sure?" Karl asked kindly. "It is not a burden to shoulder unwillingly."

"We are sworn to keep you from her." Jasmina said quietly. "And _you_ are sworn to help her if you can. I love her. Not in any erotic way, but I do love Serene as my sister. My sister is hurt, in pain and fear. I have to help. Let me be the bridge that crosses our troubled waters."

"Tenno... You _shame_ me." Karl said softly. "For so long, I have focused on myself, on the now. On trying to do the right thing in the 'now'."

"Your understanding of the Code dwarfs mine." Jasmina said softly, not moving from her spot.

"No, Sister Jasmina." Karl shook his head. "My _knowledge_ of the Code may dwarf yours. Studies and reflections and meditations. You _understand_ it better than I ever will." He said with a faint sad smile. "I have always fallen short in Benevolence and Politeness. I know this. I strive every day to improve, but..." He shrugged. "One's reach should always exceed one's grasp." He sighed. "I was ready to do it, sister. I have hated her for too long. It was time for me to rest."

"Wait..." Iriana felt faint. "Why are you speaking as if you were going to die?"

"When I fell prey to the Orokin tower, healer..." Karl said softly. "My master gave her life to free me. It was the only way."

"_No!_" Sara screamed. "_No!_ Jasmina! _No!_" She ran towards the kneeling female, but was grabbed by another of the Tenno who held her despite her struggles. He crooned to her, turning her away from the scene. "_Let go!_" She screamed. He ignored her.

Iriana was shaking as Jasmina rose from her kneeling position and moved to where Karl was. She knelt beside him, close enough for him to whisper in her ear. He did and she nodded. Jasmina made to rise but froze as Karl embraced her. He wasn't crying, but grief showed even through his ironclad control. She hugged him back stiffly and then both released in unison.

"There _has_ to be another way." Iriana said, dazed, as Jasmina rose. "Orokin technology is not evil! There _has_ to be another way!"

"Does _she_ have _time_ for us to search for it?" Jasmina asked sadly as she stepped towards the bed. Then she stopped as Sara managed to get free somehow and placed herself between Jasmina and the bed. The Tenno who had been holding Sara nursed a hurt arm. "Sara, move."

"She won't forgive herself, Jasmina." Sara said with quiet authority. "You know this."

"She will be _alive_!" Jasmina said with a snap. "Sara, move."

"Jasmina..." Sara said soberly, but did not relent as the older woman stepped up. "Serene is my mother, but you are an aunt. " Jasmina moved to edge Sara aside, but Sara froze. "Wait... Wait..." She was obviously thinking hard. "What if... _Another_ melody took it's place? One that is not harmful?"

"Sara." Jasmina said sadly. "We have no access to Orokin music." She paused as Iriana exclaimed.

"Actually, we do." Iriana said softly. All eyes turned to her now. "You don't remember?" She asked Jasmina who looked confused. "All the other Tenno in the room also looked confused. "Karl? Where did you wake from cryo?"

"I was revived in the cryo facility on Mercury. My pod was damaged and they had to extract me carefully. Many of us had that happen. Centuries spent in cryo took their toll and we had to remember who and what we were." Karl said with a scowl, unsure as to where she was going. "What is your point?"

"And you immediately dove into battle with the Grineer and others." Iriana's words were not a question. "Do you remember seeing any of the cryo facility?" Karl shook his head. "Jasmina?"

"I woke in my ship, most of our clan was hiding in deep space. We preferred it to being cooped up in crypts. Where are you going with this, Iriana?" Jasmina asked softly. "I can wake her."

"And what _then_?" Iriana snapped. "She sees you dead and goes right _back_ into depression?"

"Healer..." Jasmina sighed. "There are not always good answers. There are rarely easy solutions." She paused as Karl jerked. "What?"

"Healer..." Karl said in an odd vice. "Are you saying the _cryo facility_ is an Orokin tower?"

"Yes." Iriana said with a nod. "I am. An intact and operational one. Locked and hidden away for good reason. The last of the intact towers."

"I..." Karl shook his head. "I don't remember much of waking from cryo. Just the voice of the Lotus waking me. Then getting to my ship and flying away. Then fighting." He shrugged. "Healer, even if it _is_ an Orokin tower, getting permission to enter one was hard _before_ the war. Now?" He grimaced. "She doesn't have that kind of time."

"I don't need to ask permission." Iriana said softly and reached into a pocket. "Sara... Come here and wrap your arms around me." She commanded. Sara stared at her and then did as instructed. Iriana took Serene's still hand in one of hers and her free hand came up with a small golden object. A familiar one! A void key!

"_Healer! No!_" Karl screamed as he went from kneeling to running in a single motion. He was too late.

The vortex took all three of them, Sara, Serene and Iriana.

"Frak me..." Jasmina said softly. Karl looked at the empty bed and then turned on his heel and strode from the room without a backward glance. Jasmina looked at her kin and as one, they followed. They caught up with Karl quickly. "You will need backup. They may not let you in."

"They will let me in." Karl said calmly as he strode towards the docking bay. "One way or another."

"The Grineer are searching for the tower." Jasmina said as she walked. "If they find it..."

"They won't get the chance." Karl said with quiet confidence.

"They have a fleet." Jasmina said and then slapped her forehead. "Duh... We have a Rhino." She smiled at Karl and he smiled back. It was _not_ a nice smile that they shared. More a feral promise.

"Meet you at Mercury." Karl promised.

"I will report what happened. Save some for us." Jasmina asked as she and the group with her turned to go towards the administration complex..

"No promises." Karl said simply as he continued towards the hangar bays.

"You really _are_ a jerk." Jasmina complained, but he was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Preparations**

Karl shook his head as he entered his small ship. It was basically one very small room and an airlock adjoining. Tenno had little use for frills, so his ship had none of that. Instead, weaponry was everywhere. The walls, the ceiling, parts of the floor... All the blades, guns and more exotic weaponry was secured against acceleration and or impacts. Everywhere that there was space, some kind of death dealing device was adhered. All but one spot. The fabricator. He stepped up to the marvelous device and sighed.

"Don't have time to get it made in the normal way." Karl said heavily as he checked a readout. "Hmmm... Just enough. I guess I need to find some more platinum after this." He keyed a series of controls and then with a wince, hit the 'execute rush build' button. Expensive as hell, but worth it occasionally. The readout on the fabricator dropped like a stone and he stepped back as it gave a 'ding'. A display appeared, showing a Rhino warframe. He nodded.

"Run a full diagnostic and pull up the available modifications list." He commanded as he stepped to the side where a chair was the only furniture. He sat and spoke again. "Set course for Mercury. Best possible stealth speed."

"Underway." The ship acknowledged in the automaton voice that Karl preferred. Some Tenno liked to have male or female voices to answer for the AI. Karl had always found that a bit creepy. He preferred machines to sound like machines. Part of that was his own experience with Orokin tech.

He sat in the chair, the acceleration harness seeping around him like some kind of tentacled ocean creature. He ignored it as always, his mind focusing on other things. A quick flip brought a pair of screen up and he scrutinized them, seeing what mods he had in storage and what he...

"What the?" Karl snapped, staring at his readout. "Where did my Redirection mod go...? Oh, Lou..." He growled under his breath.

His 'friend' hadn't returned his old warframe or the mods in it. Admittedly, Karl hadn't given Lou a lot of time, but... He composed a quick message and sent it off, asking for the mods from the warframe before Lou turned it into scrap to be recycled. Hopefully, they would be waiting when he returned. He had enough spares of most everything to max out what he would likely need. Especially since this frame was not polarized specifically for him. He started checking off boxes.

"Armor maxed, check. Cybernetics to increase constitution, check. Shields enhanced, such as they are, check." The mod wasn't a good as his main one, but it would serve. "Shields recharge, check. Speed boost...?" He thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, speed boost."

The Grineer were a known threat. He had been fighting them from the moment he had woken from cryo. While not generally the brightest of bulbs, they had an advantage due to sheer weight of numbers. Karl had seen many Tenno pulled down during the War by sheer numbers. A Tenno might be an easy match for a hundred enemies, but when they faced a thousand at once? Tenno were used to being outnumbered and outgunned. Tenno outclassed their opponents by several orders of magnitude so it normally did not matter. One on one, the Grineer were outclassed even further due to their rigid social structure and their inviolate devotion to orders. They were all fast, heavily armored and most flatly refused to run from a fight even when a tactical retreat would make more sense. Their weapons mirrored the Grineer themselves. Brutal, ugly and usually very good at battering things down if not very efficient. Karl had a few Grineer weapons he had scavenged from various battlefields and repaired. It made sense to know the enemy's weapons. When one knew the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, the battle was half done before it began.

Weapons... Karl reached to the side and touched his Latron Prime. It hummed in readiness under his fingers, a quick check of the status lights showed it fully charged and ready. His kunai, ancient throwing blades that were elegant in their simplicity sat nearby as well. He looked at his Gram in a rack nearby and then shook his head. Against Grineer, he would need to strike hard and fast with armor piercing. The hammer and axe... he looked at those and then shook his head again. The hammer as very powerful, but slow, so slow. The axe wasn't that great against armored foes either. Oh, either would do, but both were slow. He wasn't sure what he would be facing when he got to the tower, if anything. If he took a hammer and wound up facing Corrupted in hordes...well... He could do it, but it wouldn't be pretty. He shook his head and rose from his seat.

Karl walked to a corner of the room and opened a locker he had rarely touched since he had woken for cryo. Inside were his 'exotics'. These were weapons that he had acquired, mastered the use of, and then put away because he either did not approve of them, did not like the feel, or just flat out had no use for. His eyes passed over his Glaive and Kestrel boomerang, passing them by. His collection of daggers, likewise. Even with mods, none of those would do enough damage quickly enough to handle a horde of Grineer before they whittled down his shields and armor through sheer weight of fire. Quantity had a quality all it's own sometimes. He would be facing hundreds of Grineer, he needed something fast and powerful. Fast... Hmmm... He reached to the back and pulled out something he hadn't used since he had woken. The twin blades still glistened from the last time he had cleaned them and he nodded.

A swift motion and the Orthos activated, humming with energy and purpose as it extended to it's battle length. Mindful of the enclosed space, Karl swung the bladed staff in an arc, checking to see if he remembered how to use it properly. He closed his eyes, hearing the hum as the blades passed close enough to move air across his face. He nodded silently. Fast, powerful and easily modded, this weapon was versatile enough to handle almost any threat. While not as powerful as a Fragor hammer or Scindo axe, this polearm had a longer reach than either. Not to mention it far outreached any hand to hand weapon the Grineer norally carried. Not that they wouldn't be a threat anyway.

Had he? He opened his eyes and checked the readouts. Yes, he had polarized this weapon sometime in ages past. He grinned and his grin was feral as he switched the weapon back to it's travel configuration and carried it to sit by his Latron Prime and Kunai. He secured it in place and then rose as the fabricator dinged readiness. A human shaped (Karl sized) hole shone in it and he nodded.

Taking a deep breath, he walked to the fabricator. Closing his eyes, he stepped into the hole, feeling the machine close about him. Then it started. The tingling in his extremities was simple to ignore. The pain that arced through his temples as the new warframe linked to his neural net was not. But he managed to keep from crying out. He focused his mind on the Code, on his knowledge of the Way of the Tenno. He recited the Way in his mind as the new warframe worked to sear it's connections into his brain. It would literally become part of his own body. He would feel any damage it took, if not as crippling as an actual injury, it would register.

Then, suddenly, he _was_ the warframe. The mods he had selected slotted into place and he could _feel_ the increase in armor. His HUD appeared in his field of vision, showing the health and shield readouts and he smiled grimly. Not -quite- as good as his previous warframe, but not bad. Not bad at all. The fabricator released him and he stepped free of it, aware of everything suddenly looking a little smaller.

With quick, sure movements, he secured his Kunai holsters to his warframe, noting that the white armored skin was as he had requested. White Rhinos had been rare on old Earth by all accounts. He hadn't seen any other Tenno who used Rhino frames with the plain unrelieved color scheme. Some of his kind were color blind in his own private thoughts, but that was really none of his business. The Latron Prime went onto his back, and he knelt to begin modding the Orthos. He pulled his Gram from the rack to remove mods from it and then paused as an alert chimed on his HUD. Incoming communication.

"About time." Karl mused as he laid the Gram aside. _Karl here._ He said silently.

_There has been a security breach at the cryo facility on Mercury._ The aloof voice of the Lotus came to his mind as always.

_Understood._ Karl replied. _Orders?_

_Tenno will move to neutralize the Grineer fleet at Mercury_ The Lotus's voice was calm and serene as always. _Your target will be a command ship. Your orders are to destroy the reactor. _Karl nodded, simple and to the point. He liked those kinds of orders.

_What word from the facility?_ Karl asked silently. _Do we know the nature of the breach?_

_No._ The Lotus said quietly. _No communication has come since the report of the breach, which was just after Healer Iriana used her key to travel to the tower. Neutralize the Grineer fleet and ascertain the status of the tower._

_And Serene? _Karl asked softly.

_You have your orders, Tenno._ The Lotus seemed to snap and was gone.

"That was...odd..." Karl mused, then shook his head. He couldn't help Serene at the moment, so he had to do as he had been ordered. He finished working on his Orthos and set it in place on his back. Then he sank back to meditate. He froze as he felt a yank. "What the-?"

Suddenly, he wasn't on his ship anymore. He stood somewhere else. Somewhere familiar. He hadn't been back in a long, long time, but the place hadn't changed. It was too much to hope that it had.

"Karl." The Frost Prime warframe in front of him did not move. Neither did Karl. The _five_ warframes that had weapons drawn and aimed at him were a pointed hint that moving might not be wise.

"That was rude, Nicholas." Karl said softly. "Using a clan dojo key on someone who is no longer _in_ your clan is very rude." There was precious little respect in his tone, but then again, he had little for this Tenno.

"It was needed." The Prime said, his arms crossed in front of him. "The Grineer female you found, where is she?" Karl ignored him, looking around. "You are not leaving until you answer me, Karl."

"Fine." Karl said quietly. "She is at HQ under interrogation. May I go now?" He asked sourly. "You and your ronin have no claim on me."

"You are being led around by the nose, Karl." The Frost Prime said quietly. "Why can you not see that?"

"Better anything than to be an honorless scum like you and yours." Karl's voice did not change inflection, indeed, did not change at all, but suddenly, the temperature seemed to plummet.

"You betrayed us." Nicholas said evenly. "You will pay."

"During the War, you killed civilians because they got in your way. What was it you said? 'Their bleating irritated me'?" Karl's voice turned soft and dangerous. "Our orders were to _protect_ that enclave of humans and you killed them all. You. Have. No. Honor." He looked around, his eyes noting each of the warframes. An Ash, a Frost, two Excaliburs and a Volt, all had Boltor rifles in hand. Armor piercing. He met the Frost Prime's gaze levelly. "Where is Lis?" He had always liked her. Of all his clan, she had been the nicest. She had worn a Saryn warframe and had been one of the most dangerous of the clan.

"Dead." Nicholas said with a snarl. "Due in no small part to _you_."

"I see." Karl said with a sigh. "Well, you have no one to blame for your predicament except you, Nicholas. Whatever you want, the answer is 'No'. I will not help you."

"You don't have a choice, _brother_." The Frost Prime snapped. "You _will_ bring us the Grineer female."

"I said..." Karl slowly stretched to his full height. "I will not help you." Suddenly, his Orthos was in hand and he was in a ready stance. "I will not dishonor myself in dealing with traitors."

"We are _not_ traitors!" Nicholas screamed. "You betrayed _us_!"

"And our honor?" Karl asked softly. "What of that? Are we to discard our honor when it becomes inconvenient? Are you Tenno or humans?" He asked derisively. "I have no time for this. I will not help you." Karl repeated, still in that same soft, but dangerous voice.

"You have no choice." Nicholas said with barely disguised glee. "We will disable you, and your frame will allow us access to HQ. We will get what we need and our revenge." The Frost Prime waved a hand and a blue field settled around Karl. "You are mine and today we will take back what is _ours_."

"One minor problem with that." Karl was still speaking softly. But then he flexed and the blue field surrounding him vanished. Everything stopped as his Orthos sang through the air, one blade pointing at the Frost Prime. "In case you forgot, I helped build this dojo, Nicholas. You stand between me and my duty, Nicholas, once of Tenno, now of no one. Your life is forfeit." He looked around. "You others, stand aside. I have no quarrel with _you_."

"Kill him!" Nicholas screamed as he drew his gold plated scythe. One of the Excaliburs and the other Frost stepped back, lowering their weapons. The others all opened fire. Too late. Karl was in motion.


	6. Chapter 6

**Mind Games**

He had to give them credit. The idiots tried to obey Nicholas' insane order. They really did. All of the ones who had not backed away started firing as Karl slammed his foot down onto the floor with enough power to warp space and time in his vicinity. All of his opponents were frozen in place, raised off the floor by the power of his stomp and trapped in a frozen moment as he spun his Orthos and slammed it into the Frost Prime's right arm. The blade turned on the other Tenno's armor, but Karl felt a bone break under his blow. Then he did it again to the Tenno's _left_ arm. The blows didn't feel...quite right. His eyes narrowed under his helmet, but he retained his poise as he recovered his balance. Then he waited, his staff held in a ready position behind his back.

The frozen moment released the other warframes and they all spun to their feet, only to stop in place as the Frost Prime screamed. All of them paused as Karl buried one of the Orthos' blades in the Frost Prime's chest. The other Tenno's armor was irrelevant to that strike, due both to the Orthos' mods and Karl's strength. But again, it didn't quite feel like a blade cleaving armor. He drew the blade out with a sickening sound and spun the staff in hand.

"You..." Nicholas gasped. "I..."

"Just shut up." Karl said calmly as his Orthos came around again in a spinning arc. The blade found the neck of the warframe and cut halfway through it. More than one of the other Tenno gagged as Karl spun the staff again, coming in from the _other_ side. _This_ time, the head went flying off. But again... it wasn't right. He had decapitated lots of foes in his life and this wasn't...right. He twirled the staff in hand as the headless body fell, blood and gore flying off the blades to splatter on the other warframes. He looked from side to side. "Well?" He asked. None of the others moved and he sighed. "I don't have all day, people. Who is next?"

But something was wrong. None of them were moving. Nothing alive could stand quite so still. Not even Tenno. He glanced down at the body at his feet and sighed as he saw pixels coming from the neck instead of blood.

"I should have known... A virtual world." Karl said with another sigh. "Nicholas would have known better than to get within my reach no matter _how_ he has stacked the deck. Who is in charge here?" He shouted. "Show yourself!" The five Tenno around him vanished and a new one appeared. No, this one wasn't a Tenno. Was he? His armor looked kind of like an Excalibur but...different.

"You sure know how to make a mess of things. Don't you, Karl?" The newcomer asked sourly.

"If you don't let me out of this virtual world, right now..." Karl said calmly. "You haven't _seen_ messes." Not a threat, a promise. The other Tenno -if he was one- raised empty hands.

"I told them you would see right through it." The other male said in a placating tone. "It wasn't _my_ idea. But we _do_ need you."

"My honor is not for sale." Karl declared, still ready to fight.

"We are not asking you to do anything dishonorable. They wanted to see what you would do." The other said quietly. "The idiots plucked that memory and used it. " He sighed. "Only an idiot wouldn't have known how you would react to that."

"You are not making any sense." Karl said quietly. "I don't know you and I don't trust you."

"No." The other Tenno said sadly. "You can't trust anyone but yourself after what happened to you during the War. After what Nicholas did." The man shook his head as Karl growled."'Look, Karl... You and I both know that Tenno are not perfect. What he did was wrong. But what he is trying to do now is worse."

"It is not my concern." Karl said, not relaxing.

"It is." The man disagreed. "The 'security breach' you were informed of just before you were pulled here?" Karl looked at him and the man nodded. "A female Tenno wearing a battered Saryn warframe was found at the edge of the facility, unconscious. She was admitted to the cryo facility medical section with life threatening injuries. Injuries from Tenno weapons. Her warframe's systems gave her name as 'Lis'." Karl inhaled and the man nodded. "The security breach happened shortly afterwards."

"And you think it is Nicholas." Karl's soft words were not a question.

"It's him. No one had seen him in a long, long time." The other said with a shrug. "He was thought dead."

"He is not dead until I have see the body." Karl said stolidly. "And maybe not even then. He liked to tinker with Orokin tech." Orokin tech had been capable of miracles. Or horrors.

"Yeah." The other said sourly. "And it doesn't appreciate being tinkered with." Karl snorted a that but didn't move and the man sighed. "Look, I know you have no reason to trust me at all. I can't give you my name, I am forbidden that." Karl just looked at him and he sighed. "Would you take someone _else's_ word?" Karl went completely stiff as another form appeared nearby. Sara had been crying. The other Tenno spoke gently. "Sara?"

"Drat you, don't _do_ this to me!" Sara snapped, then froze as she looked at the Rhino who was obviously ready to fight. "Ah..."

"He doesn't believe me, Sara." The other man said softly. "Would you? How bad is it?"

"All the guards are disabled or dead." Sara said sadly. "Iriana is hurt...Bad. She tried to fight and the creep slammed her with ice."

"If he hasn't killed her, Sara." The male Tenno said gently. "Then he likely won't."

"He says he needs 'breeding stock'." Sara said with a shiver. "He thinks I am Tenno. He is trying to 'recruit' me. Right, strap me to a chair and throw rhetoric at me to recruit me?" She said with another shiver. "That girl, Lis... He is hurting her. She is unconscious and he is hurting her anyway! He said he is going to take Serene!" She was babbling and Karl shook his head.

"Sara..." Karl said softly. "I can't trust anything here. It's virtual world." The girl nodded.

"Fee fi fo fum..." Sara said softly. "I looked it up. Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack's wife was an idiot." She said with a smile that faltered. "I am...still salty..." She said with a heave. She was, in the end, still a little kid.

"If you are telling me the truth..." Karl said slowly. "Show it to me."

The world changed. Where before Karl , Sara and the male who had still not introduced himself had stood in the clan hall of a Tenno dojo, with all the decorations and trophies of a long and storied history, now... They stood on an endless plain of gold. Close scrutiny showed that the gold was actually numbers, numbers that flowed like water as they changed. Familiar golden numbers. Orokin technology. Karl took a deep breath and relaxed slowly. Sara stared at him, her form and the unknown male's the only other non number things in the area. Karl sheathed his Orthos, but did not relax fully.

"Karl?" Sara's voice was soft and scared, hesitant even.

"I won't eat you." Karl said with a nod. "You would taste terrible." Sara stared at him and then, with an inarticulate cry, threw herself at him. He curbed his instinctive defensive response as she swarmed close to hug his warframe. "Sara, that wasn't smart. I could have hurt you by reflex or by accident."

"I don't _care!_" Sara cried as she hugged his frame. "Mom and Iriana are in trouble. The bad ones have them. They hurt Iriana and they are doing things to Serene!"

"How many, Sara?" Karl asked softly. Sara paused, thinking.

"I saw...six..." Sara said softly. "The leader had gold hoops on his head, Iriana said it was a Prime warframe." Karl looked at the other male who nodded.

"What little intel we have been able to get since they disabled the tower's defenses says the same." The other Tenno -if he was one- said softly. "The ones who 'greeted' you on arrival." Sara sobbed and hugged Karl tighter.

"Mack, Gregor, Kodas, Zang, Luc and Nicholas." Karl said with a nod. "Frost, Ash, two Excaliburs, Volt and Frost Prime. Just like the simulation." The other nodded again. "Nicholas is the key." Karl sad after a moment. "Take him out and the others will fall apart."

"You are the only one left who knew him." The strange male asked calmly. "Can you take him?" Karl just looked at him and the man shrugged. "It is a valid question. Six Tenno to one is _not_ good odds."

"It doesn't _have_ to _be_ six to one." Karl said soberly. He met the other's helmet camera with his own. "How much of this can I share?" The other jerked and Karl smiled grimly under his helmet. "I know you are some kind of Orokin Guardian. I know not to ask now."

"Uh..." The other said slowly. "Who do you have in mind?"

"A strike force from Serene's clan is meeting me at Mercury." Karl said, trying not to move. If he did, he would likely hurt the girl who was still hugging his warframe. "Sara..." He said with a sigh. "Please let go."

"Don't bother." The other male said with a chuckle. "That girl has Serene's stubbornness already. She will let go when _she_ wants to."

"I don't want to hurt her. Sara..." Karl said in a sterner voice. "Please let go. I want to kneel and if I do with you hugging me, I will hurt you. I don't want to do that." Sara looked up at the camera on the face of his helmet and gulped.

"I am scared." Sara said quietly as she released Karl and stepped back. Karl reached out slowly and carefully to pat her on the shoulder. Despite his care she staggered and winced.

"You have a right to your fear, Sara." Karl said quietly as he knelt. "Let none say otherwise."

"I couldn't do anything while they hurt Iriana, while they hurt Serene." Sara said as she knelt as well, tears falling like rain. "I feel so weak, so helpless. I want to learn how to fight." Karl stiffened.

"Sara." Karl said softly, but firmly. "Be very careful. You are upset, and you have the right to be. The Way of the Warrior is _not_ the Way of Vengeance. That way lies nothing but pain and sorrow. A very wise man once said 'before setting out on the road to revenge, dig two graves. One for your target and one for yourself.' It is true. I have done vengeance, Sara. It doesn't help."

"Was it that Nicholas person?" Sara asked softly.

"Not directly." Karl said with a sigh. Sara looked at him and he shrugged. "Let's just say that Nicholas and I have many, many reasons to be angry with one another. Sara..." He said kindly. "You are not a warrior. You do not want to be a warrior." She stared at him and he shook his head. "Your rage, pain and fear are talking now. Not you. You don't need to be able to fight to be brave and strong. Nicholas may have forgotten that, if he ever knew. I have not. I saw a little girl about your age stop a warframe once. She suckered him in and dropped about a ton of scrap metal on him." Sara's look turned shocked and Karl nodded. "It hurt like hell."

"You?" Sara asked, incredulous.

"Yeah." Karl said with a sigh. "We thought we had sensed a group of Sentient spy drones. So we went looking for the nest. Instead, we found a small Tenno survivor colony. Mostly composed of kids. Tough, smart kids. I followed the traces on my sensors right into a sweet trap. She appeared and disappeared, then I was under a pile of metal. " Sara shook her head and Karl chuckled. "They had no idea _what_ they had trapped. It only stopped me for a little while, but..." He shrugged. "The girl's name was Lis and she joined our small clan."

"Lis?" Sara asked softly. "The one..."

"Maybe." Karl said with a sigh. "I don't know. The Lis I knew followed orders. She was following orders when she dropped a ton of metal on me. She was following orders when she lied to the Elders about what Nicholas had done on Ceres. She was following orders when she stayed with him. When I left." He buried his emotions, they were not helping. "If the Lis in the medical ward _is_ the one I knew, it is probably a trap of some kind."

"I don't know..." Sara confessed. "He was hurting her pretty bad."

"I don't know, Sara." Karl said evenly. "I need to get there. Hold on, Sara. Help is coming and it is coming fast." Sara smiled at him and then reached over to hug him again.

"I know." Sara said as she released him and sank back on her heels. "But the Grineer..." A huge finger to her lips stopped her.

"...will not be a problem." Karl promised. He looked at the other who had remained silent. "May I speak of this?"

"Can you, honorably, say it was a vision?" The other male asked. Karl nodded. "Probably best if you leave me out of it. A vision of Sara."

"I can do that." Karl agreed. "I was sworn to protect Orokin technology. There is no dishonor in protecting this form those who would exploit it. And even better? It is not a lie." Sara smiled at him.

"Tell Jasmina or whoever they send..." Sara said urgently. "Sara, code Ninety-Four Three Ceta." Karl nodded. A code phrase. "It means I talked to you and am a hostage. She likely won't ask _how_ I talked to you. She knows better."

"She seems a good Tenno." Karl agreed. "Honorable, but not stupid." Sara hugged him again and then sat back with a nod. "Yes?" He asked.

"I only have two words for you." Sara said in an iron tone. "Rhino?" Karl looked at her oddly and she grinned evilly. "Smash." Then she vanished.

Karl stared at where she had been and then at the male Tenno who shrugged but was shuddering in obvious controlled laughter.

"Smash?" The Tenno asked dubiously. "Yeah, I guess that works." Karl said as he felt energy grab him to send him back to his body and the fight to come. "Rhino smash." He promised.

Haydon Tenno stared at the space when Karl had been and chuckled to himself. "At least he didn't turn green... Rhino smash..." He was chuckling as he vanished.


	7. Chapter 7

**Rhino Smash**

The Grineer had no chance. The hadn't even realized that Karl was aboard until he was nearly at the reactor. Then, in typical Grineer fashion, they had swarmed at him. That was not the wisest of tactical alternatives. As choices went, it was fairly stupid.

Karl slammed another hulking form to the deck with his Orthos, his spin continuing as he danced forward, the polearm's twin blades singing. The Grineer trooper screamed and then his scream cut off with dreadful finality as Karl stepped on him and something went 'crunch'. The rest of the squad of Grineer who had been posted around the reactor stood their ground and fired their weapons. He barely noticed as he slammed into their midst. He was ponderous, but graceful as his blades sang and Grineer fell. In moments, the chamber fell silent. But only for a moment as Karl drew his rifle.

He hadn't actually _used_ his Latron Prime during the assault. He had wanted to keep his presence a secret for as long as he could, so he had done something abnormal for him. He had skulked. There wasn't anything inherently dishonorable about sneaking. And there was a difference between honor and stupidity when you are outnumbered a thousand or so to one. Also... In his experience, Grineer _had_ no honor. His encounter with Lech Kril had shaken that certainty a bit, but in his time since waking from cryo he had seen Grineer do things that no honorable foe would contemplate. And even Kril had cut down one of his subordinates. So... There were depths to the Grineer that Karl hadn't seen before. He wasn't sure _what_ was going on, but he had a mission. These thoughts bothered him and he needed to stay focused. He had been almost happy when a Grineer had managed to avoid his kunai, get to an alarm panel and sound it before dying.

Karl hit the control to retract the protective enclosure around the reactor with an inaudible sigh. The bulb of the reactor appeared and the glowing rods of coolant extended from it. He took aim as the reactor started rotating, trying to cool off its systems. He was taking up the slack on the trigger when something grabbed his leg and pulled him into the air.

The distinctive voice of a female Grineer sounded. "Take him out!" The females were generally the officers. And only one kind of female Grineer in his experience had a snare ability, so he was unsurprised to see a smaller female Grineer with a machete swinging at him. She was alone. Brave, but foolish. He let it come as he regained his feet and the sword bounced off his armor as he drew his polearm. The Grineer female, to his surprise, did not attack again. Instead she stepped back and sighed as she lowered her weapon. "What's the point?" She asked sadly as she slowly lowered herself to a kneeling position, her blade sinking to the ground. She bowed her head. "I can't beat you, Tenno. Go ahead..."

Karl paused, his blade halfway to striking. He looked at her. She had legs! Not prosthesis, legs! All Grineer females had prosthesis. It was a sign of their rank! But...she didn't. Like the one Kril had smashed. What the hell? He froze, torn. One of the core precepts in Bushido was 'make decisions fast'. You were not supposed to dither over questions. The quote in Hagakure ran "One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths…With an intense, fresh and undelaying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side." He couldn't decide. He chose to wait, ponder it later. But that left the problem sitting, waiting for him to end her.

He tapped her shoulder with the flat of one of his blades and her face came up, set as stone, ready for death. He shook his head and her face turned incredulous.

"What?" She asked, confused. He took his off hand from the haft of his weapon, never lowering his guard and pointed to the side. Her gaze followed the direction indicated to a sign marked 'escape pods'. "No..." She stammered. "I can't..." He shook his head and deliberately turned his back on her as he walked back towards the reactor. "Tenno, please, just kill me!" She begged, but he ignored her. She wasn't really a threat.

Karl kept one bit of his senses on the still kneeling Grineer as he slung his Orthos and drew his Latron Prime again. He started firing slowly and deliberately. Each shot shattered a coolant vessel. He emptied his clip and reloaded automatically. He had done it for so long the motions were instinctive, so he was aware when the Grineer rose from her kneeling position and staggered away towards the door he had indicated, her weapon hanging loose in hand. He hit the final coolant rod and it shattered, bathing the room in crimson as the lights went out and were replaced by dim emergency lighting. He had minutes at best before the reactor melted down and took the huge Galleon out from the inside, reducing it to radioactive slag.

Karl nodded to himself and started off, reloading his rifle automatically. All of the beings on ship were dead, but would likely keep fighting. It was what they did. All they knew. One could almost admire them for that if one did not realize they had been bred to be cannon fodder. Well, most of them. He corrected himself. That female was...different. Like the nurse Nika? He wasn't sure. He would have to ask when he got the chance. For now, he had to escape the doomed Galleon and then he had a rendezvous and another mission.

As he walked, Grineer attacked him. Sometimes singly, sometimes in groups. It didn't matter. None of them had the firepower to break his shields, let alone actually hurt him. _His_ shots on the other hand, tore through their meager defenses and threw them away like rag dolls. It was not a long walk to where his ship was secured against the airlock hatch of the Grineer galleon. He stepped into the warframe shaped alcove and leaned back as the grappling fields pulled him close, holding him in place as his ship released the hull of the doomed Grineer ship and took off into space away from his prey. He had smashed them good, just as Sara had asked.

As he relaxed a bit, he checked his systems and nodded with a smile. Everything was in tolerance. His ship systems automatically refilled his ammunition supply and replaced the ciphers he had expended when the Grineer had tried to trap him by locking down sections of the ship. He had been in a hurry. Normally, he would have just broken the encryptions himself. It was a fascinating mental exercise. But he had been rushed. But then he started thinking. He did not like where his mind was taking him. A Grineer who had acted as if she was unwilling to fight. Unable to fight him, and unwilling to do so for no purpose. She had been ready to die without fighting. That was totally unlike Grineer in his experience. They lived to fight. They were created to fight. That was their sole purpose. Or so he had thought. He put it from his mind, he had to focus on the next problem.

Karl did not like the idea of facing other Tenno in battle. He had fought the strange being called the Stalker a few times, usually putting up his Iron Skin and laughing at the enemy attacks while pummeling the fool into flight. But this was different. He did not know who Stalker was, if it was a single person. Now he would be facing, and potentially killing, people he had known and trusted with his life. Honor demanded he cut them down so he would if they got in his way. He would not enjoy it but he would do it.

_Why couldn't they have just stayed where they were?_ Karl asked himself with a sigh as he changed weapons. _Why did they have to come back? And why __**now**__?_

The Latron Prime was accurate and incredibly powerful, but it had distinct disadvantages against highly mobile adversaries, like Tenno. It fired slowly enough that most Tenno would be able to dodge the shots with relative ease. Admittedly, if any connected, the Tenno it hit would be in trouble, but connecting would be hard. Karl selected a Hek shotgun instead. It only had four shots and then needed to be reloaded, but it did insane damage and the spread would be good for hitting moving targets. He had previously modded it to hit Corpus threats, which were fast and heavily shielded, so a quick check of the mods and he had it in place. Fast and hard hitting to hit mobile, agile targets. He would keep the Orthos for the same reason. It was fast, hit like a ton of bricks and with his modifications, would pierce most armor as the Grineer had found out to their cost. His kunai...? He sighed. There were a bunch of other weapons he could use, but they were still his preferred backup. He smiled a little forlornly as he remembered who had taught him how to use them. Serene. They had spent hours practicing throwing together as kids...

He was jolted from his reverie by an incoming communication. He wasn't in a clan, so... He nodded and allowed access. Suddenly he was kneeling on nothing, seeming to be sitting above the plane of the ecliptic of the solar system. And he wasn't alone long. Four black garbed forms appeared nearby, their features shrouded by the concealment of their ECM. They trusted him about as much as he trusted them, which was not at all.

"Jasmina?" He asked calmly.

"Karl." One of the forms solidified into an ember, her armor dark reds and browns to blend in with darkness. "You are late." She snapped.

"I have information." Karl said equably. "Sara, code Ninety-Four Three Ceta." Jasmina jerked back. None of the others moved.

"How?" Jasmina asked softly. "And why not contact one of us?"

"In order..." Karl said in that same calm tone. "I can't say and she didn't say."

"Gah!" Jasmina said with a sigh. "Okay..." She said, calming. "What did she say?" Karl bowed his head and Jasmina stared at him. "Karl?"

"I find myself conflicted here, Tenno." Karl said softly. "I have my duty and my honor tells me to help Serene. But I have to do it alone."

"What?" Jasmina snapped, her ire coming back to the fore. "Why?" She demanded.

"The security breach is a group of Tenno led by a Frost Prime who the others with him call Nicholas." Karl said heavily. Jasmina inhaled sharply and Karl nodded. "That makes what has happened _my_ responsibility."

"Karl..." Jasmina said in a quiet voice. "You don't have to do this..."

"I let them go." Karl said softly. "I reported what they did. I could have called it in, sent a message. I went in person. I knew the clan would flee or hide. I... I knew. I let them go, hoping that was the end of it. I didn't _want_ to fight them. And now I must."

"Alone?" One of the others asked in a male voice. "That is stupidity."

"Be _silent_, Olim!" Jasmina snapped, her voice taut. "You do _not_ know what you speak of. Karl..." She pleaded. "We can help."

"I _do_ ask your help." Karl said after a moment. "Nicholas is the key. He cannot be allowed to escape. I ask that you shadow me in. I will make enough noise that they will focus on me. I will head straight for Nicholas and I will do my best to kill him. If I cannot...You must _not_ let him leave. I do not know what he has planned, but whatever it is _cannot_ be good for the Tenno as a whole."

"How many?" Another of the shadowed forms asked softly. It sounded female.

"Sara says six." Karl said softly. "From her descriptions... Mack, Gregor, Kodas, Zang, Luc and Nicholas. Frost, Ash, two Excaliburs, Volt and Frost Prime." He paused. "Just prior to the breach, a patrol found a badly hurt Tenno in a Saryn warframe near the entrance. It may be Lis, another of the ones who... did not come back when Nicholas left. If so, she is very dangerous and I do not know if she can be trusted."

"Six or seven to one is not good odds..." The male voice said quietly. "We can strike when-" He broke off as Jasmina raised a hand.

"Can you do this?" Jasmina asked softly. "Kill your brother?"

"I have to." Karl said with a shrug. "I knew there was something wrong, but... I said nothing, he was the clan leader. I did nothing. Said nothing, kept my silence. What happened on Ceres and what has happened since is _my_ responsibility and mine alone. I will fix it or die trying." Steel might have bent under his quiet words.

"I don't believe you." The male, Olim, said with a snap.

"I don't care." Karl replied without heat. "Do what you will. My ship is on approach to the tower entry portal as we speak."

"You are clanless. How do we know you are-?" The male broke off as Jasmina nearly rose from her kneeling position, snarling at him. "Jasmina?" He asked, incredulous.

"Karl and Nicholas were twins, fool." Jasmina's voice likely would have run off an Infested. All three of the others recoiled. "They are flesh and blood! You ask why Karl has not joined another clan? Any clan I know -including _ours_-would be proud -_happy-_ to have him in their ranks. He always refuses. He says -and I quote- 'I cannot trust myself, how can I trust others?' You may think you know honor, Olim. You have _no_ idea..." Now her voice turned sad. "I am sorry, Karl."

"My penance." Karl said simply. "The lives lost on Ceres were my responsibility. I knew something was wrong and I said nothing. Honor demanded I support my clan leader. Until he went too far. Now... I will end this." Jasmina bowed her head in respect and the other three did as well. "If I cannot, stop Nicholas. All I ask is that you disable any but Nicholas if you can. Take them alive if you can. They were...good Tenno... once." He stopped speaking before his voice could betray him.

"If we can..." Jasmina said slowly. "We will try. But we are what we are, Karl."

"Weapons." Karl agreed. "Weapons with intelligence and... conscience for some." A beeping sounded and Karl nodded. "Time. Follow me in."

"Fight well, Tenno." Jasmina said with a sigh as she and the others vanished. Karl watched as the ship fell towards a specific place in space. Nothing shone on sensor. Nothing showed visually, but he knew it was there. He threw himself from the ship and fell into... gold.


	8. Chapter 8

**Family**

Karl materialized in the usual entry hall of an Orokin tower. But this one had seen recent fighting. Black spots on the walls and the wreckage of turrets and drones showed the ferocity of the battle. But it was the other thing that greeted his eyes that had him raising his shotgun and aiming. The Frost had frozen in place. The male human in the Frost's arms was unconscious and very much the worse for wear, but he still breathed.

"Karl?" The Frost asked, dumbfounded. "How the hell?"

"Hello, Mack." Karl said conversationally. "Where is Nicholas?" He strode forward a few steps and did not look to the side where a set of shadows moved deeper into the darkness.

"Ah..." The Frost didn't move. "Karl... You can't be here."

"Well, I am." Karl said without emotion. "My duty is to help Serene." The Frost went completely still at that and Karl shrugged a little. "Her sister and daughter both asked my help. I decided to give it, I have hated her long enough."

"Leave, Karl." The Frost said softly. "Now. If you leave now, I won't tell Nicholas you were here."

"You know me better than that, Mack." Karl said with a grimace. "Your work?" He indicated the still human with a twitch of his shotgun barrel.

"We..." The Frost slumped a bit. "We didn't want to fight. We wanted to find Lis. We tried to talk, but they started shooting."

"Can you blame them?" Karl asked implacably. "This is the last bastion of Orokin, Marc. _The. Last_." He said sharply enunciating the two words. "And you threaten it. Can you blame them for defending it as well as they could?"

"No." Marc said quietly. "None of us do. We tried not to hurt them, brother."

"I am _no_ brother of yours." Karl snapped. "Where is Nicholas?"

"Get out of here, Karl." Marc said softly, turning to go. "He will kill you." The ratcheting click of Karl's shotgun chambering around had him pause. "Would you shoot me in the back? Karl?" The Frost asked softly.

"I would rather not." Karl said just as quietly. "But I know how much you like drawing the enemy's attention... So..." He spun in place, then nodded. "Zang... How good of _you_ to show up too." An Excalibur warframe with Braton rifle in hand stepped out of a cross corridor. "Thank you for not making me chase you down. It's fatiguing." The Rhino said mildly. His shotgun wasn't up, it was still pointed partly at the Frost.

"You are a fool, Karl." The Excalibur said evenly. "You cannot win here."

"You of all people, Zang, should know there are all _kinds_ of ways to win." Karl said with a shrug. "Where. Is. Nicholas?" He demanded again. His voice was still soft, but intensity was growing.

"We will not betray our clan leader to you, traitor." Zang said with a snap, his rifle aiming. "Make your peace with your ancestors."

Everything stopped as Karl's Hek roared. Mack spun in place, a horrified exclamation coming as Zang fell, a huge hole in the chest armor of his warframe. Karl had fired from the _hip_ and the massive recoil had barely moved the huge Rhino.

"_No!_" Marc screamed. "Zang! You _bastard!_" The Frost dropped the still human and spun, his hand coming up coruscating with power, but Karl's shotgun roared again. The Frost stared at Karl, and then at the stump of his arm. The powerful shotgun had blown his armored gauntlet -and the hand within- to flinders. "No..." He begged, as he fell to his knees. "Not like this..."

"Zang isn't dead. Yet." Karl said evenly as he broke open his shotgun and fed two new cartridges in to replace the spent ones. "What are you going to do, Marc? Fight me or save him? Choose." He took careful aim at the Frost's head.

"You son of a bitch..." Marc sobbed, cradling his arm. "All you had to do was _leave!_" He screamed.

"No." Karl said calmly, not moving."All I had to do was disregard my honor. Throw it all away like Nicholas did. Toss anything and everyone aside like Nicholas did. Do you know _why_ he killed those people on Ceres, Marc?" The Frost stared at him. "You don't, do you?"

"Doesn't matter." The Frost declared, rising unsteadily back to his feet.

"He said their bleating irritated him. But that wasn't the truth." Karl said softly. "He drew them into that hangar and Avalanched them because of me." Marc was staring at him and Karl shook his head. "I was downed on that colony, hurt bad. I took down the enemy, but I couldn't make it back to my ship. I collapsed. A pair of children from the enclave found me. They couldn't do much, but they provided power for my warframe. It kept me alive, let me heal." Marc was shaking his head and Karl shook his. "And I respected them greatly for that. Limited weapons, no hope...and their _first_ thought was to help me. _Me_, a stranger. A monster in human form like the Sentients. They saw me fight and all the adults kept away, afraid I was as bad a monster as the Sentients. But two little kids came and helped me. They wanted to be my friends." Marc was shaking his head and Karl continued implacably. "But... I was not _allowed_ to have friends, Marc. Ever. Nicholas had to rule everything in my life. Thinking back... I wonder if _he_ talked to Serene before I proposed to her..." He mused. "It would have been just like my dear brother. To try and keep me from _any_ happiness."

"That is not true..." Marc said with a snap. "You betrayed us!"

"Yes, I told the Elders what he did. We were ordered to protect that colony, Marc." Karl said implacably. "And he killed them all. Because of me. Where is he?"

"Karl..." Marc said with a gulp as Karl leveled his shotgun at the Frost's head. At this range, the blast wouldn't just penetrate the armor, it would likely remove the man's head completely. "I..."

"Choose, Tenno." Karl said in a soft voice. "Live. Or die. Choose now." Something hit the back of his warframe and Karl sighed as he spun, knocking the Ash that had tried to backstab him away. "Gregor... Always charging in..." Karl's Hek roared again and this time, the warframe wasn't going to get up. Not when cut in half by a shotgun blast. He spun back to see the Excalibur rise, a gold outline silhouetting it. "Well, crap." Karl said with a sigh as he looked at the Frost, whose arm was now glowing gold. A faint outline of a hand was materializing at the end of Mack's arm. He didn't need to look to see that Gregor's still form was also glowing. He wouldn't stay dead for long. "So be it."

"You can't win, Karl." Marc said as he drew a bolto with his good hand. It went flying as Karl lashed out with the Orthos.

"Do you really think I care?" Karl asked quietly as Zang drew his skana. "Can Orokin tech repair a totally obliterated head? Let's find out."

The Hek roared again, but this time, Zang dodged the blast, sliding away from Karl before charging back. The Excalibur dashed at Karl and the impact sent shivers through the Rhino, but he kept his feet and his shotgun. Zang moved in, his blade weaving as Marc drew a crystal bladed sword. With only one hand still, the Frost couldn't wield both of his Ether swords, but one was enough in the hands of a master, which Marc was.

"Alive!" A voice snapped from nearby. Karl did not need to turn to know that another Tenno had joined the fray. He knew that voice and knew another warframe was about to join the battle. A Volt. "Nicholas wants him alive."

"Luc." Karl said quietly as he slung his shotgun. The two Tenno in front of him paused as he drew his Orthos. It spun through the air, humming. "Come on, then. Let's do this." With a thought, his warframe was covered in armor and he was in motion. "I am only here for Nicholas..." Karl said as he advanced on the now retreating Frost. "_You_ all are fringe benefits." Now his voice was emotional and hate sang with his Orthos as he stalked forward.

"Karl... No!" Marc cried. But the Rhino was done talking.

Marc's sword ignored armor so he was the biggest threat. Karl charged forward, slamming the Frost to the ground with one outstretched arm. The impact shattered Marc's shields and damaged his armor. The Orthos came down and Marc gave out a scream as the surgically sharp blades severed both his legs above the knee. The blades came up to ward off the frenzied strikes of Zang's skana as the Excalibur tried to help his comrade. Electricity crackled around Karl as the Volt threw power at him. Karl barely noticed it as he stepped into Zang's attack, his polearm swinging with enough force to shatter rock. The Excalibur tried to set himself, but even blocked, the mighty blow threw him back. A massive armored foot slammed into the Excalibur and knocked him to the floor. Karl's blade came down, the staff held vertically, he buried the end in the twitching Excalibur's midsection. Zang screamed and went limp. Karl spun to where the Volt was standing, obviously dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

"Karl!" The Volt begged as he retreated. "No!" He threw electricity at Karl, whose shields took the hit.

"You should have stayed gone." Karl declared as he stalked forward, easily catching up to the stumbling Volt. "You were not a concern until you came back!" He raised his polearm as the Volt tried to flee and ran backwards into a wall.

"Brother... Stop." A soft, weak voice sounded nearby and Karl paused in mid swing as a female Tenno appeared nearby. She wore a patient gown that left little to the imagination. Lis' red hair was a mess, her face marred by organic bandages. "He is not the one you want. Nicholas is with the hostages."

"And I should trust you, _why_, Lis?" Karl asked as he slammed the Volt to the floor with the haft of his polearm, the blades coming up to strike. The white scales sloughed off his form, but he ignored it. Lis was the threat now. Armor wouldn't help.

"I wanted to love you." Lis said sadly. "You kept pushing me away. I didn't have a chance against your memories of Serene. Love or hate, you wanted her more than you ever could want me." Karl paused for a moment.

"That is true." Karl said quietly. Luc squirmed away and Karl slammed him absently with the haft of the polearm again. "But that is still not a reason to trust you. You appeared here and then _they_ came. You showed them the way in, didn't you?"

"I am sorry, Karl." Lis said in an abject voice. Her hand snapped and Karl had a moment to see the small throwing blade in it before it buried itself to the hilt in his arm. A Kunai. Armor piercer. The toxin on it took effect immediately. He convulsed, his blade falling from nerveless fingers. "I didn't have a choice, Karl." Lis' voice came from far away. "He was going to use me to breed more Tenno. I couldn't do that. I am sorry." Her voice was coming from far away now.

Karl fought the toxins with every fiber of his being. Lis had taught him quite a bit about poisons during the war. He had taught her how to use Kunai. He barely felt his weapons being removed from his warframe. He barely felt it when he was dragged. He roused from his stupor when a familiar, hated voice sounded.

"How bad?" Nicholas' voice was calm, as always. He never lost his temper.

"Marc's legs have reattached, but he won't be mobile for a few minutes." Lis' voice was clinical and cold now, more the woman Karl remembered. A cold blooded killer. "Zang and Gregor will be a few more. He really messed them up."

"And where is Luc?" Nicholas asked as a hand traced Karl's helmet.

"Probably barfing." Lis said with a sigh. "Poor boy isn't cut out for this. He has spent too much time in the lab. He belongs in a lab, not the battlefield." Yeah, Karl remembered. Luc hadn't ever really been a fighter type. Oh, he _could_, but it wasn't his forte. His primary skill was making things for the clan to use.

"And when will my brother wake up?" Nicholas asked. Karl took stock. He was restrained and his warframe's power had been drained. He had one hidden weapon left. But how to use it? It wouldn't penetrate a warframe. The same hand traced Karl's helmet and then it retracted. Only _one_ other being could do that, could fool the warframe into thinking the user wanted the helmet off. Nicholas grunted. "Why is he drooling?" He sounded...upset.

"I poisoned him. What was I _supposed_ to do?" Lis demanded sourly. "Fight him without a warframe? You wanted him stopped? He is stopped. You wanted him alive? He is alive." The sound of a slap echoed and then Lis was crying. "Go right ahead, hurt me again! Don't... I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't want to fight him. You knew he would come!"

"Lis, I am sorry." Nicholas was not repentant at all. "We didn't have a choice. At least with three Tenno females of breeding age, we don't need you to bear now." Karl felt anger rise. "When will he wake?"

"Oh, he is awake." Lis said with a sad snort. "Karl is tougher than steel. He never lost consciousness."

"Ah, Karl." Nicholas said softly. "You always did pick the absolute hardest road. Come on, brother talk to me."

"I have no brother." Karl managed to grate out.

"Could have fooled me." Nicholas said with another sigh. "Karl... There was no need for this. Any of this."

"You killed those humans." Karl said softly. "You killed them all."

"They were spying for the Sentients." Nicholas said in a long suffering tone. "We went over this."

"Spying?" Karl asked, incredulous. "Hiding, scavenging and fleeing from them and they were _spying _ for the Sentients? Is _that_ what you told the others? Why you herded them all, men women and children into that hangar and Avalanched them? Because they were spying?"

"They were." Nicholas said sharply. "You were too close, Karl. You didn't see the transmitter."

"Transmitter?" Karl asked slowly. "The transmitter that was built into the side of an old scoutship hulk? _That_ transmitter?"

"So you did see it." Nicholas' voice held faint relief. "Then you know they were spying."

"_I built that transmitter!_" Karl screamed. "To call my ship back! _They couldn't use it!_" Lis gasped, and Nicholas' presence withdrew a bit. "It was sequenced to _my DNA!_ You didn't bother to look closely at it, did you? You needed an excuse and you found one. They knew me and they liked me, so they had to go, didn't they?"

"It's not that way, brother." Nicholas said heavily. "You were distracted."

"So they _all_ had to die." Karl snapped. "I guess from your point of view, they were acceptable losses."

"They were only human, brother." Nicholas said in faint reproof. "Not Tenno."

"No, they were not Tenno." Karl said softly. "So I guess from _your_ point of view, that makes it okay."

"No, it wasn't okay." Nicholas said with a snap. "I needed you ready. I needed you fully focused. It was sad, but necessary."

"And Serene?" Karl asked in a soft, dangerous voice.

"What about her?" Nicholas asked cautiously.

"I told you what I intended, showed you the ring." Karl said heavily. "You begged me to wait. 'Think it through' you said. I did. Heaven help me, I did. I meditated before going to talk to her. You talked to her right after talking to me, didn't you? What did you tell her? That I was unstable? Insane?"

"You were not ready for a long term relationship, brother." Nicholas had a trace of sadness in his voice now. "It was for the best."

"I see." Karl said with a sigh. "So be it. You are a controlling piece of trash but you do _not_ own me." He bit down on a tooth and it cracked.

"_Karl! No!_" Lis screamed as he sucked in breath and then expelled it. He opened his eyes to see her bent over him, she had put herself between Nicholas -whose helmet was also open- and the poison dart that he had blown out his rolled tongue. She stared at him, her eyes scared as her hand came up to touch the dart that protruded from her neck.. "Karl... I..." She grimaced and collapsed.

"I taught you throwing knives." Karl said as she fell in a heap at his side. "You taught me poisons, Lis. A fair trade." Nicholas went to his knees beside the still form.

"No!" The Frost Prime helmet sealed. "Lis... Come on.. The tower will repair you, hold on..." He begged. "Come on, sister. Don't die on me. We need you."

"Tower nanites work for physical injuries." Karl said evenly as he flexed his muscles. The warframe, even drained, answered his commands and the bonds holding him cracked. "Not neurotoxins. Not when the systems are overstressed repairing damage that was done."

"What have you done, brother?" Nicholas demanded. "She loved you!"

"As always, I have done what honor demands." Karl said as he flexed again and the bonds holding him fell away. He rose and stood. Nicholas knelt with Lis in the middle of a large room. White trees grew in sheltered spots and a large orb stood nearby. It showed signs of damage and Karl smiled as he walked towards it. "Not that _you_ would know anything about honor, traitor."

"I was protecting you." Nicholas did not move from where he knelt, still cradling the still form in his arms. "I was the eldest. It was my job."

"You were the elder by four minutes, Nicholas." Karl said quietly as he walked up to the damaged Death Orb and felt power flow from it into his warframe. "And you had no right to do what you did. On Ceres, with Serene, any of it."

"It was my duty to my brother." Nicholas said, rising. "Stand down, brother. There has been enough death today."

"I have no brother." Karl replied evenly. Nicholas bowed his head and then drew his scythe.

"So be it." Nicholas said quietly. "I won't kill you. We will have time... to talk..."

"The only way you are going to stop me from killing you is to kill me, traitor." Karl set himself and then everything stopped as something flew through the air towards him from the shadows. A skana! He caught it and it sang as he readied himself.

"Who the...?" Nicholas froze as a wheelchair appeared in the shadows. Serene sat in it, her face intent. "No..." He said heavily as a number of shadows detached from the wall to surround Serene. None of the other Tenno moved to interfere. "No..." Nicholas said, his control slipping. "What have you _done?_" He demanded of Karl.

"I do what honor demands." Karl said as he moved to attack. "As always. Die, traitor!" He charged.


	9. Chapter 9

**Brother versus Brother**

Any battle is at least half psychological. This has been known since the first human picked up the first rock to hit each another human with. Since then, things have become more complicated, but at the heart, any battle is lost or won in the minds of those fighting. Samurai from ancient Japan understood this very well. If a warrior knew in his heart that his cause was just, that his deeds would make a difference, that what he was doing was right... Then no matter the odds, no matter the cost, a warrior could prevail against similarly equipped and trained warriors.

It didn't always work out that way. Sometimes the warriors were outnumbered too badly for their rightness to win anything but a moral victory. Sometimes they were out gunned or overcome by newer technologies than they possessed. But sometimes, the rightness of the warrior's cause made all the difference.

Karl circled his brother, skana held ready as Nicholas waited. In the first fight, he had possessed a powerful advantage. He had surprised his former kin and they had been scared of him, with reason. The Hek shotgun alone had been a massive equalizer. They hadn't been ready for him. They had been set to fight the guardians of the tower, mostly well trained and well armed _humans_. Karl was not human. If they _had_ been expecting him, they hadn't expected him quite so soon. His arrival had thrown them all for a loop, a loop that he had used ruthlessly. He had exploited their weaknesses that he remembered to take them out as quickly as he could. Marc had always been one to draw attention, not do damage himself if he could help it. Zang had been fast, but lightly armored and Gregor had always been impulsive. Always getting in over his head. Luc... Karl hadn't liked scaring the boy so badly. He remembered the bright, cheerful soul who had joined the clan, but the Volt had probably been the most dangerous to Karl. Lis' intervention had saved them all from a long, drawn out fight, since they could regenerate even mortal injuries somehow and he wasn't sure if the tower would heal him. He guessed he was about to find out.

This situation... was different from the last fight. Nicholas was ready for him. The Frost Prime's Reaper scythe hummed with fell energy and from where Karl circled, he could see it glistening with frost and crackling with electricity. If Nicholas had any sense at all, it was modded for armor piercing as well. It was just as fast as a normal skana and hit far harder. Karl couldn't tell how the skana he held was modded, but it wasn't running with fire, crackling with electricity or shimmering with frost. Advantage, Nicholas.

"Don't do it, Karl." Nicholas said evenly. "You can't win."

"Winning isn't everything, traitor." Karl said as he darted in, his steps slow, but perfectly balanced. Nicholas' blade came around and Karl met the strike with his own. Scythe met skana. Metal ground on metal and sparks flew as the two brothers struggled with each other for leverage. Nicholas was just as strong as Karl remembered. They were evenly matched. Karl activated his dash, but Nicholas had also activated a power, and both combatants were stunned, Nicholas slammed to the floor and Karl frozen for a moment.

"This is stupid, Karl." Nicholas said as he flipped up to his feet. Karl flexed and the ice shattered. "You can't beat me. You never could."

"You never _let_ me." Karl corrected his brother. "You always had to win. You always had to seem better than everyone else. It took years for me to figure out how you cheated." Nicholas stiffened and Karl laughed a bit sourly. "Won't work this time." He moved in again.

"I don't want to kill you, Karl." Nicholas snapped. "Stop this! We can fix this!"

"I don't _care_ what you want." Karl snapped right back as he sought a hole in his brother's defenses. There wasn't one. "You have taken enough from me. I-" He broke off as an arrow suddenly sprouted from the Frost Prime's back. "What?" He said, suddenly horrified. "No..."

"Karl..." Nicholas' voice was suddenly weak. "I..."

A commotion started near the wall. An Ash with a bow stepped out of the shadows, another arrow nocked. He drew the bow again as Serene spun in her chair, a censorious look on her face. The other Tenno all moved to stop him.

"He is _mine!_" Karl shouted. Too late. The Frost Prime stiffened as another arrow flew. This one impaled the Frost Prime's arm and the scythe fell. Karl stepped back, his entire form quivering. This was a matter of honor! What _right_ had that other Tenno to interfere?

"Kill him." The voice of the Tenno who Jasmina had called Olim came as he lowered his bow. The other three Tenno were surrounding him now, the Ember slapping his bow out of his hands.

"You..." Karl shook his head, dumbfounded. "You honorless piece of crap..." He snapped. He stared at the blade in his hand. Serene hadn't thrown the skana. Indeed, she was obviously barely able to sit upright. "This is yours." He said uneasily as he looked at the skana. The Ash nodded.

"It hungers for his blood." Olim said easily. "Do it."

Karl stared at the blade for a long moment, then threw it across the room. Everything stopped again as the blade impaled the wall next to the Ash.

"You don't own me any more than _he_ does." Karl snapped as he indicated the now kneeling Frost Prime. "Honorless _scum_. I kill when I _must_, when my duty demands or if I am ordered to. I do _not_ kill for your _amusement_." The intensity level in the room sky rocketed at his ice cold words.

"That..." The Ash stammered, staring at the blade in the wall. "I didn't..."

"_Shut up, Olim!_" Jasmina screamed. "For goodness sakes, shut up for once!" She spun back to Karl. "He doesn't understand..." She pleaded. "Karl..."

"Karl..." Nicholas' voice came. It was very weak. "You can still fix this..."

"Yes." Karl said softly as he stepped up to slumped Frost Prime. "I can."

He grabbed the gold hoops on top of the warframe's head and gave a short, practiced yank. The dull snap of a neck breaking echoed through the suddenly silent chamber and the Frost Prime fell in a heap. Karl kicked the body until the limp head fell into position and then raised his foot. When it came down, power flared around the armored boot and the entire room shook. He stepped out of the gory pile that had been his brother's head and turned to scrutinize the Tenno who stood frozen by the wall, staring at him.

"You are well, Serene?" Karl asked in an oddly formal tone. She nodded, obviously unable to speak. He nodded in return. "Good. Then my duty to you is done. Goodbye. And to the rest of you... Good riddance." He said with a snap.

"Karl, wait..." Serene said in a tone that half pleading, half resigned.

"I do not hate you now, Serene." Karl said with a nod. "I forgive you what you did. Now I do what I must."

"_No!_" Serene screamed. "_Karl! Don't!_"

"My duty is done." Karl said softly. "My clan is dead. Mostly by my hands. My oath to the Elders is fulfilled. I am...nothing now. No place, no home, no family." He shook his head. "Goodbye, Serene."

"Karl, wait." Jasmina said slowly. "You have a place..."

"With you?" Karl asked softly. Jasmina nodded. He shook his head. "No. Your clan's place is in the shadows. My place is not. Even if some of you have honor..." He bowed his head to her and she sighed. "I can neither forget nor forgive what was done this day. He was _mine_." Serene was crying but he was beyond caring.

"I..." Olim stammered. "What?"

"_Shut up, Olim!_" Serene yelled at him, then coughed. Jasmina stepped to her side, her posture worried. "Karl, please... don't..."

"What choice do I have, Serene?" Karl asked softly as he knelt in place. "The others?" He asked Jasmina.

"The one you called Luc lives. Unconscious, but alive." Jasmina said quietly. "We could not take any of the others alive and the regeneration..." She trailed off as he nodded.

"...will have stopped when Nicholas died." Karl finished for her. "Luc was a good kid, as innocent as a Tenno can be. Lis..." He sighed as he looked at the still form nearby. "She wanted more than I could give."

"I am sorry." Jasmina sounded calm.

"Karl, please..." Serene begged him. "I need you."

"Not true. You were always the better of us, Serene." Karl demurred. "The stronger, the faster, the braver. I needed the Code to keep to my way. You never did." A small golden blade -the same one as before- appeared in his hand. He sighed. "I have no second. I will make it swift." He shifted the blade to aim at a vulnerable spot on his helmet. Small and hard to see, but there. Not as traditional...perhaps as cutting the belly open with a sword, but just as effective.

"_No!_" An anguished scream sounded and a small form ran into the middle of the tableau. Sara was crying. "Karl, _no! Don't!_"

"You would deny me my chance to expunge my clan's dishonor, Sara Daughter of Serene?" Karl asked her calmly.

"No." Sara said softly as she skidded to her knees beside him. "But... If you do it here, you wounds will regenerate. You will wake up." Karl looked at her and then at Serene whose face pinched as she too realized that truth. Jasmina jerked and he knew the other Tenno had been pushing him to do just that. Die here and come back, honor satisfied, by _her_ definition. But not by his. "Part of me wanted to remain silent, but it would be wrong. As wrong as Olim shooting the arrows was."

"Thank you, Sara." Karl said, rising. "It is good to see the young know something of honor."

"I don't know enough." Sara said, still crying. "If I did, maybe I would know way for you to stay."

"The Way of the Warrior is hard, Sara." Karl said quietly, laying a slow hand on her shoulder. But then... something stung his foot. Darkness was creeping around his visions as he stared down at the small blade that had pierced his armor and then at Lis who had rolled on her side. Her hand was retreating from where it had thrown the blade. She pulled the gown to cover her as best she could. "Lis...?" He asked, incredulous.

"I taught you poisons..." Lis said in a weak voice. "I didn't teach you all I knew... Sleep Karl."

This toxin was either faster acting or more potent than what she had hit him with before, because he was dragged down into darkness before he could protest.

* * *

Karl was floating. He could see down, the scene that erupted as Sara and Serene both started yelling at the slumped form beside his crumpled body. He could hear them as if from far away.

"What did you do?" Serene was yelling as Sara screamed obscenities that Karl truly hoped the girl didn't understand.

"I hit him with as potent a knock out dose as I could." Lis gasped. "I couldn't... I couldn't let him die. He freed me... Again."

"You used him." Serene said coldly.

"Nicholas was going to _breed_ me, Serene." Lis yelled right back. "What would _you_ have done? Yes, I ran. Yes, I tried to find a way out. I fought, tried to escape. Yes, I led them here. I didn't expect them to follow me. Certainly not so fast. Yes, I used him, got him in here to challenge Nicholas. Yes, I am an outcast and yes, my life is forfeit. But _his is not!_" Lis' shout silenced everything for a moment. "He is better than me, better than all of us. Do with me what you will, but _he is alive_, Serene!"

"And as soon as he wakes up, he will suicide." Serene said with a snarl. "If we restrain him, confine him, whatever, he _will_ find a way. You _know_ this. You cannot stop something that can't be stopped. Karl cannot be stopped when he puts his mind to something. He defines stubborn and hardheaded."

"I know." Lis said sadly, lying back down. "You need to find an honorable path for him before he wakes."

"Oh, is _that_ all?" Serene snarked. "Keep him from killing himself or anyone else when he wakes and find a new way for him? Right." She said with a scowl. Jasmina stalked to where Lis was cringing.

"I didn't say it would be easy." Lis gasped as Jasmina kicked her. "I surrender..." She pleaded.

"And we should trust you, _why?_" Jasmina snapped. "For all we know this is a power play by _you_."

"I just wanted him to _live!_" Lis said with a shrill cry as Jasmina bound her wrists and ankles. "He loves you, Serene!"

"I know." Serene said in a sick voice. "And it doesn't matter. His honor is his life and... I.. I can't help him. He won't let me."

"Then don't give him the chance." Lis gasped again as Jasmina searched her roughly. "Ow!" She complained.

"How many more poisoned blades do you have on your person?" Jasmina demanded as she pulled a couple of small objects free and tossed them aside.

"Three." Lis said quietly. "Hidden by scanner proof flesh colored tape. Left wrist, third rib from the top on the right and... one..." She gulped as Jasmina's hands paused in their search. "Yeah. There. They were trying to confine me. I had to get away."

"Ow." Jasmina said with a wince as she pulled tape from a very inconvenient spot. She scrutinized Lis. "Any more surprises?"

"Poison tooth." Lis admitted. "If you yank it, it will likely break and kill me. There is no antidote."

"I am not going to." Jasmina said with a snarl as she grabbed the other woman's jaw with a hand. "Which?"

"Far back, bottom left... what?" Lis said, uncertain and then gasped. "No!" She screamed as fire leaped from Jasmina's hand to sear her mouth. The Ember's control was excellent. No burn marred the woman's mouth. On the outside anyway.

"_That_ is for using Karl." Jasmina said with a snarl as she dropped Lis in a heap. "I melted your tooth and nothing else, but the pain will remind you the costs when you act dishonorably. Speaking of..." She rose and spun on her heel and the other Tenno recoiled from her. Olim gave up trying to withdraw his skana from the wall it was buried in. When Jasmian spoke again, all warmth in the room fled. "Olim, you and I are going to... talk..."

With that, Karl felt himself pulled away into blackness. A gold tinged blackness.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dreams**

Karl was dreaming, but he was not. Nothing seemed to matter. A part of him knew that this was wrong, that something was very wrong, but most of him was floating. He watched as a scene appeared in front of him.

A group of six beings appeared, all seated in a circle. From their garb and general demeanor, they were Tenno Elders, the designated leaders of the non-warrior Tenno. All wore cloaks with long hoods that concealed the faces. By their postures, they looked tense and Karl went still as another form appeared in the middle of them. A Tenno in a Rhino warframe. The Rhino was kneeling, his head bowed. One of the Elders spoke.

"You come." The Elder said softly, as if disbelieving. "Of your entire clan, you are the only one who has come to explain the events on Ceres." The Rhino nodded. "What happened?"

"I was battling minions of the Sentients. I found the controller and attacked it to destabilize the enemy offensive." The Rhino said in a familiar voice. "I was away from the colony. My clan Leader told me that a group of Sentients had gotten past us and attacked the colony. I destroyed the ones I faced, and turned to help. But when I got to where the civilians were..." The Rhino broke off as if overcome.

"What happened?" The Elder pressed. "There has been no communication from that colony since you left."

"There were none left alive to communicate with." The Rhino said softly, sadly. All of the Elders froze at that. "All dead."

"I see." The Elder sighed. "The Sentients are merciless." He paused as Karl -it was Karl in the past, this was a memory- shook his head. "What?"

"The Sentients did not kill the civilians, Elder." Karl said softly. "My clan leader, my brother Nicholas did. He went to where they were gathered, huddled in a disused hangar and froze them all. Killed them all. Men, women and children." All six of the Elders stiffened in shock.

"_What?_" The Elder who had spoken snapped. "In the name of all that is holy, _why?_"

"I don't know." The past Karl said sadly. "I confronted him over their frozen corpses and he said they irritated him. I don't..." He broke off and then spoke again. "I cannot make sense of this, Elder. I had hoped you could. That there was some information I am not privy to. That there was a reason." All of the Elders looked at one another, and finally the spokesman broke the uncomfortable silence.

"We have heard nothing from Tenno Nicholas." The Elder said slowly. "Why did you come in person? Why did you ask an audience with all of us?"

"Honor demands no less." Karl watched as the shade of himself shuddered. "I had to know if he was acting...under orders. From your responses, he was not." The Elder who had spoken shook his head and Karl nodded. "I am here to offer whatever apology the Elders demand. No matter what you demand, I will give it."

"Even if we ask your life?" Another of the Elders spoke in a faint, dumbfounded voice. The past version of Karl nodded without speaking. "I see."

"Why, Tenno Karl?" The spokesman asked gently.

"My honor is my life, Elder." The Karl from the past said quietly. "Without honor, I am nothing. And now, my honor is stained by Nicholas' actions. Those people helped me. I was hurt, my warframe disabled. They helped me and he killed them."

"Is there a connection?" One of the Elders who had not spoken yet did, this one female.

"I don't know." The shade of Karl said quietly. "I have not had time to think on it. I came directly here from Ceres. I was...unsettled. My meditations have not helped."

The Elders all looked at one another. The shade of Karl did not move. Finally the Elder who had been speaking did so again.

"We must confer." The Elder said softly.

"I will wait." The past version of Karl said in an equally quiet voice.

The scene vanished and then reformed. The Karl from the past was still kneeling in place. The present Karl remembered that he hadn't moved in the hours the Elders had been gone. He knew what was coming and cringed as all six Elders rose from their seats.

"Tenno Karl..." The Elder spokesman intoned formally. "You come before us with grave tidings. A group of Tenno, rogue. A colony, slaughtered. You offer your life in payment." The kneeling Rhino did not move. "Our judgment is this. You are no longer affiliated with that clan. You will not die until you have stopped the rogues."

"They will not surrender, Elder." The Karl from the past said softly.

"Do what you must, Tenno." The Elder said simply. "Stop them however you must. Swear you will."

"I..." The Karl in the past bowed his head. "I swear I will stop my former clan. I will do what I must, for as long as I must, to end the threat they pose to the Tenno and the system we protect. I will end them." 'Or I will die trying' was unsaid, but heard by everyone present.

"We regret this." The Elder said sadly. "But it must be done. Be well, Tenno Karl, and good fortune."

Karl was shivering slightly as the scene from his past vanished. He ordered his body to obey and it did. As it did, voices intruded. But he couldn't bring himself to care. He could hear them, but it didn't matter. Nothing did. He couldn't see, but he could hear.

"Any change?" Serene's voice was sad, so sad.

"Whatever that witch stuck him with was potent beyond belief. It's not in any databases I can find." This was Iriana. She sounded...weak. Hurt maybe? "Anyone else would have died from that mess of toxins. As it is, he isn't really asleep, but not awake or aware ether. I...think. It's weird."

"Karl always defined tough." Serene said in an abject tone. "Oh sister, why? Why did I believe Nicholas all those years ago? Why did I not listen to my heart when it said to trust Karl? He is a good Tenno. Why did I say what I did? Do what I did?" She was crying now.

"Hindsight is always clearer than foresight, Serene." Iriana said gently. "How are you?" The sobs tapered off as if someone had comforted Serene.

"Not so good. The...amputations I can handle. There isn't any pain. The loss of mobility..." Serene said softly. "The depression is getting worse. The song is there, but its not the same, not as...overpowering." She made a small noise. "I am sorry. I didn't... I didn't mean to ignore you and Sara."

"It's not your fault, Serene." Iriana said gently. "None of us had a clue what was happening until Karl told us. None of us had a clue what would happen _here_."

"Are _you_ okay?" Serene asked in a worried voice. "Nicholas hit you hard when he froze you and after."

"A little shaky." The medical Tenno admitted. "If I had managed to get that Dera going, I would have hit _him_ hard." Iriana snapped, but then sighed. "I am not a warrior. That is clear."

"You don't have to be, sister." Serene said gently. "It was brave. Dumb, but brave." She said sourly. "Please don't make me watch you get slammed into a wall while I am stuck in a bed ever again."

"Well..." Iriana had a sly grin in her voice. "Please don't make me change your diapers ever again."

"Deal." Serene said with a laugh. Then her voice turned somber. "So... What is wrong with Karl?"

"I don't know." Iriana confessed. "The toxins we have found we have neutralized. But..." She sounded worried now. "It's like he is there, but not."

"Something mental?" Serene asked, concerned. "Anything like what happened to me? The split with Two?"

"No." Iriana reassured her. "It's..."She sighed. "I don't know _what_ is causing it. The tower med computers say he is asleep, but... not. He won't wake up."

"Maybe that is for the best." Serene said softly.

"What?" Iriana demanded.

"The moment he wakes, he will kill himself or try to get someone else to kill him, Iriana." Serene said heavily. "It wasn't just Olim's impatience." She snickered sadly as Iriana growled something foul under her breath. "Temper..."

"I thought you wanted to flay the brat." Iriana asked slowly.

"Well..." Serene sighed. "I _am_ angry. But... Olim isn't a brat. He is brave and loyal, but he doesn't always think things through. There was _nothing_ that could have _possibly_ irritated Karl more than someone interfering in an honor duel so...stupidly."

"Karl seems a very driven person." Iriana said kindly.

"That is putting it mildly." Serene said with a soft sob. "I loved him, iriana. I still do. I hurt him so badly all those years ago and now... I have lost him again."

"Sara and I are here, Serene." The healer said in a soft, gentle voice. "You are not alone."

"Thank you." Serene said with clear sincerity. "Can I... talk to him in private?"

"Serene..." Iriana said slowly. "I better tell you now. The residents have asked me to stay. They took casualties and none of the survivors have medical training or experience. I said yes. Mishka is on her way."

"That's great, Iriana." Serene said with a warm smile in her voice. "But..."

"They want you and Sara to stay too." Iriana said slowly.

"What?" Serene said softly, disbelieving. "But..I..."

"Serene..." Iriana said with firm resolve. "You are _not_ going to be able to run again. Walk maybe, someday. Not run." Serene made a soft pained noise and Iriana's voice turned super gentle. "You _can_ do other things, Serene. Not the least of which is to find a way to help Karl."

"I..." Serene's voice was almost inaudible now. "Iriana, sister... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to decide now." Iriana said quietly. "We all need some time to recover from this horror. The residents and the security systems have agreed you can stay as long as you want."

"Because I am not a threat." Serene said flatly. "Sara's boundless curiosity is more a threat than I am."

"She knows better than to pry." Iriana said quietly. "And she is being closely supervised. They haven't had children here in a very long time, but they do remember. Mishka will help, when she gets here."

"I don't remember meeting your daughter." Serene said softly. "Did I?"

"In passing." Iriana said with a sigh. "She came by one time while we were...well..." She trailed off.

"...trying to get me to wake up." Serene finished for the healer. "Will we be...um... bound?" She asked carefully.

"They say no." Iriana said softly. "They say we will not have the control mechanisms attached to our heads. Not all the residents did."

"Only where the neural sentries went nuts did _all_ the residents have those gold things attached to their faces." Serene said with a shiver in her voice. "Normally, it's only intruders." She paused. "The two prisoners?"

"As soon as they are hale enough to survive, I will do the procedure." Iriana said flatly. "The sentry _could_, but it wouldn't be gentle."

"My feelings are ambivalent." Serene said in a neutral voice. "The male -Luc- attacked us with the others, but... _He_ didn't actually do any harm. He tried to help. He scooped Sara up and kept her from harm when the others burst in despite her struggles. The female -Lis-..." She sighed. "She led them here. And then she poisoned Karl."

"She has been interrogated." Iriana said quietly. "She wasn't lying, Serene. She_ was_ trying to run away from them. And why? I would have run too."

"He was really going to..." Serene gagged. "Ugh..." She sounded sick.

"He had six males and one female, Serene." Iriana said in a matching sick voice. "From one point of view, what he wanted to do to her was rational if he wanted his clan to survive. From ours? Not so much."

"I don't want to feel sorry for her." Serene said fiercely. "She poisoned Karl, twice."

"What will Karl do when he wakes, Serene?" Iriana asked softly. She said 'when', not 'if'. "Will he be a threat?"

"I don't know, Iriana." Serene said with sadness pouring from her again. "I need to talk to Jasmina, she understands more about Karl's Way than I do." Then her voice hardened. "One thing, do _not_ try and manipulate him. Jasmina tried that. He can't trust her now. I don't know if he will trust me. If I were in his boots? I wouldn't."

"It wasn't your fault, Serene." Iriana pressed gently. "You know this. He likely knows this."

"It doesn't matter." Serene said with a sigh. "Intentions do not matter. Actions matter. I acted in a dishonorable fashion. He won't trust me."

"You were _sixteen!_" Iriana snapped. "How rational can a person _be_ at sixteen? I know I wasn't."

"It doesn't matter." Serene repeated sadly. "His honor is his life, and I hurt him and violated his honor. I lied to authority to get him in trouble. I have regretted it ever since."

"You have to forgive yourself someday, Serene." Iriana said, worry clouding her tone. "You are a good Tenno."

"Am I?" Serene asked softly. Her voice came closer. "Karl? I am sorry. For everything I did and didn't do. I wish..." She choked back as sob. "I wish I had told Nicholas to shove it. I wish I hadn't believed him. I knew better. I did. But I was scared. Please..." She begged. "Please wake up. Even if you still hate me, even if you hit me, or just tell me how 'disappointed' you are with me. Even if you leave and I never see you again... Please..."

"Serene... I saw the record. He forgave you." Iriana said gently. "Come on, sister. Come away." A soft sound of grief came but then it pulled way. "I have done all I can. He will wake, or he will not." A soft sobbing came and Iriana's voice turned super gentle. "It's okay, Serene. It's okay..."

The iron around Karl seemed to crack for just a moment, but then it drew him back in. He couldn't make himself care. Not through the iron hard softness that held him. Funny, you wouldn't think of softness as being hard, but this one was. It held him, aloof. Aware of the sound of Serene crying, and the murmurs as she was led away. The hum of the wheeled chair that Serene sat in. Hoverchairs might work, but Orokin tech had odd effects on some forms of power, so ancient wheeled chairs worked better.

It wasn't a dream. He knew that now. Serene's remorse was not a dream. He had to think on that. But then...

_Tenno _The familiar female voice was in his head.

_Lotus_ Karl replied.

_Your wish for suicide is denied._ Karl stiffened as the female voice that guided the Tenno spoke sternly. _You are still needed._

_I am nothing. I am dishonored. _Karl protested softly. _I... I must..._

_You have no clan Lord. I am a guide and you need guidance. _ The Lotus said evenly. _You do have a purpose. You have a Way. Follow it. _The words were a command. Then, like always, she was gone.

Karl jerked awake, laid his head back and wept.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ways**

"Karl?" The voice pulled Karl from his meditations.

He looked up to see Iriana standing in the doorway to the room, her face worried, scared almost. It was a small hospital room, but the walls were decorated in fine paintings and the floor was opulently carpeted. Just like Karl remembered from when he had trained in a Tower. Before the War. Karl eased his posture, relaxing slowly from his kneeling position in the middle of the bed. He hadn't wanted to alarm anyone by taking off the monitors so he had gingerly eased himself into a kneeling position on the bed. At least he was still wearing his body suit and not a patient gown. Karl nodded to the healer but his eyes did not miss the cast on her arm that rested in a sling, the bandages on her face and neck or the scared look in her eyes. She wore a slightly dirty set of scrubs.

"You have nothing to fear from me, healer." Karl said quietly. "I apologize for not notifying anyone as soon as I woke. But I needed time to think." Iriana did not relax and Karl sighed. "Healer, be easy. I mean you no harm." It was an oath, those quiet words.

"Ah..." Iriana swallowed. "No one will deny you the chance to...to do whatever you wish... But..."

"I am denied an honorable end, healer." Karl said quietly. "The Lotus may say she guides, but it is a command nonetheless." Iriana's eyes went wide and then softened in sympathy. "I am lost, but will do no harm to you or yours, Healer Iriana." Karl declared. "Serene?" He asked.

"I got her to sleep." Iriana said uncertainly. "I can wake her..." She broke off as Karl shook his head.

"No, don't. She is... very hurt still." Karl said with a sigh. "I could hear you and her talking as if from a great distance. I did not mean to eavesdrop. She blames herself." Iriana nodded. "It is not her fault."

"Nor yours." Iriana said with a shrug that turned into a wince.

"I do not agree." Karl said with a shrug of his own. "But I will not argue. I _do_ need to see Lis and Luc, know their fates." Iriana tensed again and Karl shook his head again. "I do not need their deaths, healer. They are the last of the rogues. By the letter of my oath, I just need to see them stopped. I have killed too many of my kin already." He said with a grimace.

"The tower will take them." Iriana said with a wince. "They go in for implantation in the morning. I wanted to be sure they were hale first. It will be traumatizing. The tower sentry wants them awake when it takes control of their minds as punishment for what happened. Lis leading them here and Luc helping to attack."

"I need to see it done, healer." Karl said with a nod. "I give you my word, I will not interfere."

"The girl... Lis..." Iriana said softly. "She loves you." Karl nodded. "You never returned it."

"No." Karl said with a sigh. "She was..never quite right for me. If I had encountered her...before..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Nicholas tried to trap me with a former love of mine once. It cost him three of his clan." Iriana winced again. "I probably would have slain her out of hand without giving her a chance to explain."

"I see." Iriana said sadly. "I have no real understanding of what you have endured, what you have had to do. The Way of the Warrior is hard." Karl nodded.

"Most Ways are." Karl said quietly. Iriana looked at him oddly and Karl shrugged. "Don't tell me _you_ haven't had to make hard choices." His eyes traveled down her person and lingered on her cast. "You fought. With no training or equipment, you tried to fight."

"Got trounced." Iriana said sadly. "There is more to it than point and click." She said with a self deprecating grin. "But he came in and gloated when he found Serene unable to fight. When he saw Sara. I had to do something."

"Are you well?" Karl asked, concerned. "Now bad were your injuries?"

"No pain now." Iriana replied. "Broken arm, concussion, frostbite. The nanobots are repairing the damage as we speak."

"You are staying." Karl said with a nod. She stared at him and he shrugged. "I couldn't...quite wake. But I did hear you."

"I am." Iriana said simply. "They need me. Sara and my biological daughter wish to stay with me."

"Are you sure this is a good place for children, doctor?" Karl asked cautiously. "The dangers are real."

"Is anywhere safe these days?" Iriana asked softly as she finally stepped closer. She looked at the monitors, then at Karl before nodding. "The tower systems have reported that they have files on child care. The residents have pledged their support. They haven't had a kid here in a while, but they do wish to help. Sara already has a minder drone staying close to her."

"Healer..." Karl said softly. "Are you sure? The Grineer will not stop looking for this place. There are several entrances and all cannot be sealed or this place with wither and die like so many other towers."

"No." Iriana said sadly. "I am not sure. But they need me, and..." She shrugged, this time without a wince. "Serene may find something to do here as well."

"She needs purpose." Karl mused. "Same as me. My crusade against my former clan was all that I was for so long... Now?" He blew out a breath. "I don't know."

"I tired." Iriana said sadly. "We all tried. But even with Orokin tech, the radiation damage is simply too bad. Her nerves won't accept prosthesis command signals. Maybe if she had come _here_ immediately, instead of coming to the colony..." Iriana broke off as Karl raised a hand and slowly laid it on her unhurt arm.

"Healer." The male Tenno's voice was soft and sincere. "You did everything you could."

"She cries in her sleep, despite the sedatives I give her." Iriana said, wilting. "When she is awake, she tries to be upbeat, cheerful. But asleep...? Her real feelings come out and she falls apart. Sara and I do what we can..." She broke off and bowed her head. "Even now, I fear for her."

"She has taken a grievous injury." Karl said quietly. "And you... You give, and give..." He looked at Iriana. "Who has given to you recently?" He guided her to sit on the bed beside him, her back to him. She did as instructed.

"Sara has opened her heart to me." Iriana said softly. "And Serene, when she is coherent, she is..." The healer gave a squeak as Karl's massive hands moved quickly to her shoulders and then she stiffened as he started to massage them. "I... No, this is not your... Ah..." She groaned, half in pleasure, half in apprehension.

"Every strength has limits, healer." Karl said sadly as he continued the massage. "Be at ease, you need to relax. Your life will change significantly in the near future. Sara's and Serene's as well."

"I..." Iriana gasped as Karl's fingers worked on knots of muscles, to find and soothe the tautness in her shoulders away. "Oh, that's nice..." She just about purred.

"You are still hurt, healer." Karl said gently. "You need rest too."

"I need to tend..." Iriana gasped louder as Karl pressed in with his fingers, finding a particularly tight clump of muscles and working on it. "I... I need..."

"You need sleep." Karl said with fond exasperation. "Just like so many other healers I have known, you push yourself too hard." Iriana almost turned to putty in his hands and he continued his massage. "Easy... Easy..." Karl said kindly.

"I..." Iriana said softly, her eyes drooping. "I need to..."

"Rest healer." Karl said as Iriana fell asleep in his hands. He laid her gently on the bed, careful of her hurt arm. He deactivated the monitoring equipment attached to him and started to undo the monitor feeds. The door hissed open and Sara stood there, gaping. He put a finger to his lips and she nodded, stepping back so the door shut. He rose from the bed and covered the slumbering healer with a sheet. Then he strode to the door. Sara waited just outside, an Orokin drone hovering protectively nearby. She girl wore a Skana and a pistol. The pistol looked far too large on her hip. "She is asleep."

"She was about to come apart." Sara said softly, worried. "With everything that happened, she was..." The girl was holding together commendably, but Karl knelt and held out his arms. Sara swarmed into them tears starting to fall. "Look at me, all weepy..." She hugged him tight and he held her gently.

"When did _you_ sleep last, Sara?" Karl asked softly.

"They drugged me." Sara said, her tone hard. "They had me restrained. They were going to take me back and..." She swallowed. "They... They looked at me and I was just a thing. Meat. They were scanning my abdomen when they drugged me." Karl bowed his head and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Then I got dragged to the virtual world and we talked. Jasmina woke me up, after. But then Serene ran off and the others followed her. I... I am sorry..." Sara said, scrubbing her face harshly.

"For what?" Karl asked quietly. "You have _nothing_ to be sorry for. You were abused, Sara. What they planned to do to you was horror on the scale of what the Corpus did. Maybe they would have been kinder. I doubt it. I knew my brother."

"Shouldn't be crying." Sara said with a snarl. "Tenno don't cry."

"That is a lie." Karl said with a snort. "Who the heck told you that?" He demanded.

"You... you don't..." Sara said, uncertain. Karl sighed and shook his head. "You _do_?" She asked, confused.

"Sara..." Karl said gently. "Tenno came from humans. We are more, and less. We have more training, more skills, more of many things. Some bred into us, some learned. We have the same emotions our ancestors did. We think, we feel, we grieve. We control ourselves, because if we cannot control ourselves, how can we control anything else?" Sara stared at him and he shook his head. "Sara... You need sleep too." He paused as she hugged him tighter. "Sara?" He asked.

"I am afraid." Sara said as she burrowed her face into his shoulder. "I am afraid this is a dream. I am afraid I am going to wake up on a table again. Corpus or Tenno..." She broke down and wept as she hugged him. He let her cry. "I thought I was safe here and they... They..."

"I know, Sara." Karl said sadly. "I know. I do thank you for what you did, stopping me."

"Jasmina meant well." Sara said uneasily. "But she didn't understand."

"Yes, she did." Karl demurred, holding Sara as she cried herself out. "She knew exactly what she was doing." Sara looked at him and he shrugged. "Sara, people have tried to use my honor against me for a long, long time. Some have succeeded, some have not. What she did changes nothing. I didn't trust her from the beginning. Serene's clan lives sneakiness. I do not."

"I...see..." Sara said quietly. "I was looking for something. Anything that could make you stay. Make you..." She broke off as Karl laid a finger on her lips.

"The Lotus contacted me just before I woke, Sara." Karl said with a sigh. "She commanded me not to seek death." Sara's eyes went wide and then outrage poured from them. Karl shook his head. "Sara..." He said sternly. "I am a weapon. No more, no less. Without directions..." He sighed. "I need to find a new way that fits my own."

"I think Jasmina will ask you to join her clan again." Sara said uneasily. "I can guess what your response will be." Karl nodded. "I... I don't know what to say, what to do..." Sara stammered.

"For now Sara, you need to rest, heal and recover." Karl said quietly. "I need to talk to Serene, but later. For now..." He rose and Sara gave a squeak as she was lifted easily in his arms. Her grip tightened a little, but she did not recoil. "Where are your quarters?"

"I...uh..." Sara gulped. "I don't know. They said they gave me a room, but I never went there. Things were... nuts..." Karl nodded and looked at the drone which dipped in midair and started off. He followed it. Sara relaxed a little. "Karl?" Sara asked.

"Yes, Sara?" Karl asked as the drone ahead stopped by a doorway that flashed from a red outline to a green one , showing it had unlocked. He walked forward and it opened to show a small, pristine compartment. Bed, chair, desk with terminal. Nothing else. He walked towards the bed and lay the shuddering girl down on it.

"Do you still love Serene?" Sara asked carefully as he covered her with a sheet that lay nearby. "I mean, it's none of my business, but she is my mom and all..."

"I don't know, Sara." Karl said with a sigh. "Things have changed. I am not who I was. She is not who _she_ was." He stepped back, looking at the girl who looked back at him. "You can sleep now."

"I am scared to." Sara said softly. Karl nodded and her eyes went wide as he knelt in the middle of the floor. Then her eyes went even wider as he started to sing softly. The ancient lullaby had Sara slowly easing. By the third verse, her eyes were closed and she was lying back, a soft smile on her face as she fell asleep. Karl ended the lullaby and rose.

"Sleep, little one." Karl said in a whisper quiet voice. He looked at the drone that hovered nearby. "If she becomes distressed, contact me. Do not wake Iriana or Serene until both have rested." The soft words were a command and the drone dipped in midair again. He walked out the door and another drone hovered there. It weaved towards him and away. "You want me to follow?" It dipped and he sighed. "Very well."

The drone led him to another, nearby door. This one changed from red to green as well as the drone approached. It hissed open and Karl stepped to it, only to freeze as he saw what lay within. Serene sat upon her bed, her eyes intent as she looked at him. She wore a patient gown that did nothing to disguise the stumps of her legs. It also left _very_ little to the imagination.

"Hello, Karl." Serene said evenly. "We need to talk."


	12. Chapter 12

**Discussions**

"Please cover yourself, Serene." Karl said without moving from the door.

"I..." Serene stiffened and then blushed as she looked down. "Oh... Sorry..." She twitched the sheet over herself and pulled it up to cover her chest. "I didn't mean to offend. You have been offended enough today."

"You should be asleep." Karl noted, still not moving.

"Sleeping is... not very restful at the moment." Serene said sadly. "The song is fading. They are...well, the proper term would be 'weaning me from it'." Karl nodded and Serene looked away for a moment. "This happened to you." It wasn't a question.

"I was posted with a master after my punishments were done." Karl said with a sigh. "I was young and stupid. Sang in a tower without precautions and was snared. Thinking back..." He paused. "I wonder if Nicholas pushed me to sing in the tower? As a dare or something? It is the kind of thing he would have done as a kid. I don't remember. It was all hazy for awhile."

"Yeah, a haze..." Serene agreed. "Karl, I am sorry." She said, her face falling. "I cannot say it often enough. You were the perfect knight and I was a moron."

"Both of us made mistakes, Serene." Karl said evenly. The drone behind him beeped and he looked at it. It made a motion he interpreted as 'get out of the door'. He snorted. "Pushy..." Serene chuckled a little at his tone as Karl stepped into the room and the door hissed shut behind him. He smiled a little as well as he looked at Serene. "I had forgotten how pushy the drones could be."

"I think they have been extra careful around me." Serene said sadly. "I haven't been... very coherent for long." She looked at Karl and her eyes were misty. "Jasmina said you were going to free me from the song. Before Iriana brought me here." Karl shrugged and Serene sighed. "I never deserved you. Never. You hate me and would have thrown your life away for me. I... am... not worthy of that..." She said, crumpling a little.

"I don't hate you any more, Serene." Karl said evenly. "We have punished ourselves long enough. You need to stop hating yourself. The Elders didn't believe you when you said it was non-consensual."

"It doesn't matter." Serene said sadly. "I lied. I lied to get you in trouble. I wanted you in trouble, I wanted you hurt. You scared the crap out of me and I wanted you hurt!" She shook her head. "What a ditz... I was so stupid."

"Serene." Karl said sternly. "The past is past. You made a mistake. Learn from it." He snapped. She stared at him and then nodded slowly.

"I have." Serene said slowly. "I have come to a decision, one that I have thought about ever since I slapped your face and stalked off all those years ago." Karl looked at her and she flushed again. "I need to know something." She paused, waiting.

"Ask." Karl said without moving from his spot.

"If I had said 'Yes'... What would you have done?" Serene asked slowly. "I remember what you said, but was it the truth?"

"I would have married you, Serene." Karl said softly. "I would have made you as happy as I could. If we had been blessed with children, I would have trained them in our ways." He looked away for a moment. "And we both would likely be dead by now."

"I know." Serene said softly. Then she shook herself and met Karl's eyes. "I ask this formally, one Tenno to another. May I bear your child?" Whatever Karl had been expecting, _that_ was not it. He recoiled a step and Serene spoke hastily. "There is no obligation!" She said. "I wish to... to be who I should have been."

"You are not thinking clearly, Serene." Karl said with a frown. "You are still fuddled."

"I have never been clearer in my life." Serene said as she sat up. "Karl, _please!_" She begged as he stepped back. Her face turned hard. "Door lock!" She commanded and the door indicators changed color from green to red before Karl reached it. "Karl, just listen!" She called.

"You are still sick." Karl said with a snarl. "Door unlock." He commanded but the indicators didn't change and he sighed. "You have it set to recognize only your voice, don't you?" He asked sourly.

"I am not pushing anything..." Serene begged. "I want something good to come of this."

"That is _not_ a reason to have a child, Serene." Karl said with a final glower at the door before turning back to scowl at the bedridden woman. "Children are a blessing, but they are a _lot_ of work. Ask Iriana sometime."

"I know." Serene said sadly. "I... I have thought about this. Please..." She waved at a chair nearby. "If you wish to leave after hearing me out, I will let you. We never have to see one another again. Just... please?" She begged.

"Serene..." Karl said with a sigh as he moved to the chair and sat after checking it for traps. "This is a bad idea."

"For so long, I hated you." Serene said softly when Karl had situated himself. "You scared me. Your talk of family, and children, and a life without fear. I wanted to be a Warrior, to fight. I didn't have any idea..." She broke off and looked away, sadness mounting on her face.

"Neither of us did, Serene." Karl said with matching sadness. "We had been raised on tales and lore, and trained to be weapons from the time we could walk. It was what we were. What we were for. What we are. We are Tenno. Living weapons."

"Yes." Serene agreed softly. "But we also have a duty to our kind. To continue our legacy."

"Serene..." Karl groaned. He shook his head. "All right, that duty is agreed upon." He said reluctantly. "Why me?"

"I owe you." Serene said calmly. "I dishonored you long ago. You may have forgiven me, but the dishonor still stands between us. I want the rift healed, Karl. I want..." She slumped in place. "I want to love again..."

"Serene..." Karl said softly. "I don't know if I am still in love with you. It...isn't the same." Serene nodded.

"Iriana and Sara told me that you talked to Two." Serene said uneasily. "That she got you to come see me." Karl nodded and Serene continued. "What did she say?" Karl just looked at her and she sighed. "Never mind, I can guess. She _is_ me after all. She told you I walked alone after... after you." Karl nodded. "Did she say why?"

"She said you still loved me." Karl said uneasily. "I don't... I don't know if I believe that. It has been a long time, Serene."

"Part of me always has. I kept expecting you to show up." Serene said softly, almost inaudible. "To just appear someday out of nowhere. To show up and say I was a fool." She was shuddering now. "That I was... That I was evil..."

"I stayed away for a reason, Serene." Karl said uneasily. "After...Nicholas split with the Tenno... I was ordered to hunt him and the others. It was...bad. I found some. None of them would surrender and I had to kill them. Then... Nicholas used someone I cared for as bait to try and trap me. It cost him three of his clan, but the girl I cared for died." Serene stared at him, her face ashen. "If you were...estranged then _you_ were not good bait. You were safe."

"You..." Serene stammered. "You did that... You stayed away...to protect...me?" She asked in a small voice. Then she crumpled into tears. "I..." She sobbed, trying to control herself.

"Aw hell..." Karl said with a sigh as he got up and walked to the bed, sitting beside Serene. He wrapped his arm around her and she leaned into him, sobbing. "Serene." He said flatly, holding her as she cried. "There have been other women in my life. None since the clan went rogue, but they were there."

"I don't care." Serene sobbed. "I just had to say I am sorry and to ask you...if..." She broke off, unable to continue.

"I don't know, Serene." Karl said heavily. "I feel..." He shook his head. "I will not be able to stay, help you raise a child. That is wrong. A father has a duty to his children." The male Tenno said with a shiver. "Serene, I am needed. I cannot stay here with you."

"I understand and I am not pressing." Serene said, retreating a little to let Karl do the same. He moved to the edge of the bed. "I just... I saw you fall and...I..." She swallowed, trying to maintain control. "I just wanted to ask. That is all. It is your choice. I would be... honored." She said with a bow of her head.

"Ah, Serene..." Karl said with a sigh as he moved back to his chair. "If you are determined, and I can see you are..." He took a deep breath and then let it out. "Then I have no objections except that I will not be able to help you." Serene's eyes lit up and she smiled.

"We could-" She broke off as Karl made a chopping motion.

"No." Karl said flatly. "Not tonight."

"Karl...I..." Serene stiffened, but then relaxed.

"You are still sick, Serene." Karl said flatly. "You have not recovered from your ordeals. _And_..." He sighed deeply. "We need to talk to Iriana and Sara before we do anything. They are your family."

"I wish you were." Serene said softly. "I wish you could join my clan, have people you can trust. But you can't trust them." She bowed her head. "Not now." Karl shook his head. "Dang that Olim..."

"It wasn't just him, Serene." Karl said quietly. "My methods are not theirs. Their methods are not mine. They are good Tenno...but..."

"The only Tenno you can trust is you." Serene said sadly. "I understand." She bowed her head. "I will talk to Iriana in the morning. I hope she gets some sleep."

"She is." Karl said with a smile. Serene looked at him and he shrugged. "She was stressed. A good massage and she went right to sleep." Serene stared at him, her eyes wide and then she nodded.

"Can... I ask for one?" Serene asked slowly. "It's been... a long time..." She sounded dazed, or remembering. Karl looked at her appraisingly and she flushed. "You always had magic fingers."

"No funny business." Karl warned her. "I will leave and not come back if you try anything."

"I won't." Serene said as she lay down on the bed and rolled onto her stomach. She pulled the sheet up to her neck and lay waiting. Then she stiffened and spoke. "Wait... Door unlock." The door indicators changed to green and she looked at Karl who looked nonplused. "In case I fall asleep. I remember doing that a lot when you gave me massages before." She said with a smile.

"Yeah." Karl said with a fond smile of his own. "Yeah, you did." He waved to her and she laid her head down as he sat closer, his hands seeking her shoulders. She gasped as his fingers found tense spots and expertly soothed them. She was quickly moaning in pleasure and then, like a light, she was out. Karl eased her positioning so she would breathe well and then rose from the bed after making sure she was covered. He was almost to the door when she gave a shrills cream. "Serene?" He spun in place. Serene was crying into her pillow, her entire body shuddering. Karl sighed and stepped back to the bed. "Nightmare?" He asked kindly.

"Weird..." Serene said in a halting voice. "It was so weird. I was... I was looking at a computer terminal. On it, I saw... me... Or Two, Or some Tenno Banshee all in black." She was shaking as she rolled upright and Karl sat back beside her, letting her cling. "I was... Moving keys? And an odd thing that glided on the desk surface?" She asked. "It is fading. I think..." She shook her head. "I was... looking over... my... My shoulder. It was me. My Paris, my bolto, my naginata."

"You still use the naginata?" Karl asked, not sure.

"You taught me how to use it." Serene said, abject. "It gives me reach."

"I still have the Orthos you gave me." Karl said as he laid an arm around Serene, letting her calm herself. "I used it against the rogues."

"I turned away from the monitor..." Serene said slowly. Karl stiffened, but she wasn't done. "There was mirror nearby. I saw my face, Karl. I wasn't _me_." She said, crying. "_It wasn't me!_" She wasn't calming.

"Serene..." Karl said sternly. "Put it from your mind. It is something to do with being in the tower. It has happened to others. Come on, Serene..." He encouraged. "Come on, girl... Easy..."

"It was so...real..." Serene said, calming. "Karl... I..." She burrowed against him, her hands moving from his shoulders...down. "I missed you..."

"Serene!" Karl exclaimed. "Stop!" But she was beyond hearing. He looked at the ceiling and spoke. "I need a medical drone! She is distraught and needs some sedation!"

The door hissed open and a drone -maybe the same one from before, maybe a different one- appeared and came close to where Serene was groping him. A beam of golden energy played across her face and she collapsed without a sound. Karl caught her and eased Serene back onto the bed. He arranged her to be comfortable. Then he looked at the drone.

"Can you keep her sleep dreamless?" Karl asked seriously. "I think she saw an alternate reality." The drone seemed to pause in midair. "Others have seen it, many didn't take it well."

"_Karl?_" An astonished voice sounded from the door as Jasmina stepped in. The Tenno still wore her warframe. Her voice turned fierce. "Who let _you_ in here?" She demanded.

"Serene did." Karl said, rising. "She wanted to talk. We did. I forgave her. She... can't seem to forgive herself."

"Talk?" Jamsina looked from the now standing male Tenno to Serene, whose face as still frightened. "I see." She said flatly.

"We talked." Karl said quietly. "I forgave her, Tenno Jasmina. She asked for a massage. I gave it to her. I put her to bed and she woke up screaming. She saw someone at a terminal controlling a Tenno that looked like herself." Jasmina jerked and Karl nodded. "You have seen it too." It wasn't a question.

"I have. " Jasmina said softly. "No... Serene wouldn't take that well, would she?"

"She started to grope me, and I asked for a drone to knock her out." Karl said with a snarl. "That is _all_."

"Yeah." Jasmina said slowly. "Not like _you_ would have started anything. You know she wouldn't mind. You could..." She broke off as Karl went completely still.

"If you finish that sentence..." Karl said in a quiet, serious tone. "One of us dies." No threat in his quiet words. Promise. The fact that she was in a warframe and he was not was suddenly immaterial as he seemed to swell. Jasmina froze.

"I meant no insult, Tenno." Jasmina said formally. "If one was given, you have my apology."

"Serene has asked me for something." Karl said, his tone still icy. "We will discuss it with Iriana and Sara when Serene wakes. It is _their_ business. Not yours." Jasmina stared at him, her dumbfounded shock apparent even through her opaque helmet.

Then the Ember stepped aside, crossed her arms and bowed her head in profound respect.

"I will ward my sister this night." Jasmina said with a catch in her voice. "For the insults done to you this day, my clan owes apology and we will pay our debt."

"Just leave me alone." Karl snapped quietly as he stalked from the room. He had to find a place to rest, to meditate. To get some clarity of thought. He had to.


	13. Chapter 13

**Children**

"You wanted to talk to us, Serene?" Iriana looked much better than she had the night before. A full night's sleep, clean clothes and a good breakfast had put a smile on the healer's face. Sara sat beside her and the girl looked better too.

"Yeah." Serene said with a wince as she finished off her own breakfast. The table that had been set for them had three places and a space for her wheelchair. Karl had not touched any of the food. Then again, _he_ wasn't recovering from injuries. "No one would poison you here, Karl."

"No offense, Serene." Karl said simply. "But you don't know that." He shrugged. "Be that as it may, I was not sure when you would wake. I ate already. I am not hungry."

"Stubborn male." Serene said with affection in her tone rather than condemnation. Iriana and Sara both stared as Karl smiled a little. He shrugged at their incredulous looks.

"I am not without humor, healer, Sara." The male Tenno said with a nod. "And what Serene said _is_ the truth."

"What happened last night?" Iriana asked cautiously. "I woke up in the bed _you_ had been in, Karl." The huge male Tenno nodded. "Sara was asleep in hers, and I don't think she knew _where_ it was. And Jasmina was on guard -with a drone- in Serene's room. What happened?" She demanded.

"I apologized." Serene said sadly. "We talked."

"That is all?" Iriana asked suspiciously. She looked from Serene to Karl and back.

"Well, I had a nightmare." Serene said, shivering. "I can't..quite bring it to mind now. But it freaked me out. Karl called a drone to put me to sleep. I was hysterical." Iriana looked at Karl and he shook his head minutely.

"Others have had similar dreams, Serene." Karl said calmly. "It shouldn't happen to you again."

"I hope not." Serene said with a shiver. "Even if I can't remember the dream, the fear... That I remember." Sara rose from her place and walked to stand by Serene, laying her arms around her mom's shoulders. "Thanks Sara." Serene said with a smile as she returned the embrace. "But... I asked Karl something before that. He said... well.. He said we needed to talk to you both."

"Talk...? Oh." Iriana said, understanding dawning. "I see." She looked from Karl to Serene and her eyes were appraising.

"Mom?" Sara asked, concerned. "What?"

"How would you like a little brother or sister, Sara?" Serene asked carefully. Sara stared at Serene, her face slowly paling. "No!" Serene snapped. "Not the way the Corpus did." She hugged Sara tight and the girl returned it, slowly relaxing.

"I..." Sara swallowed heavily, looking at Karl. "You are okay with this?" She asked curiously.

"Not really." Karl admitted. "I can't stay." He said with a shrug. "Serene made a point about the Tenno's legacy. The only way to continue it is to make more Tenno. That is why we have the colonies we do, but... She wants a child."

"And cloning is bad." Sara said with firm resolve. "So..."

"We would do it the time honored way, Sara." Serene said with a nod. Sara looked at her and Serene nodded. "Your mom Amelia explained about that, didn't she?"

"Yeah." Sara said uneasily. "But..." She made a face. "How is this different from what the bad ones wanted you, me and Iriana for, Serene?"

"They were not going to give us a choice. This is my choice, Sara." Serene said, holding Sara carefully as the girl shivered a little in memory. "I... hope you don't mind..." Serene said, suddenly unsure.

"I don't _mind_." Sara protested. "I want you happy. But..." She slumped a bit. "I don't know."

"Sara." Iriana said kindly. "You are afraid Serene won't love you as much if a baby comes. Isn't that right?" Serene jerked but remained silent. Sara stared at Iriana, then bowed her head and nodded. "I was worried Mishka would feel the same way about you." Sara's eyes went wide, but then she nodded in understanding. "Does she?" The healer asked Sara.

"No." Sara said with a slightly strained grin. "She _does_ take the elder sister thing a bit far sometimes, but I know she does love me."

"Oh Sara..." Serene crooned, hugging the girl tight. "You will always be my daughter. No matter what. No matter what silliness you get into." Sara's eyes were misty as she embraced Serene again. But then Sara looked at Karl who had remained aloof.

"How long can you stay?" Sara asked slowly.

"I need to see the punishments of the last rogues done." Karl said evenly. "I will stay until you are all healed. Until we have confirmation that Serene is expecting. Then I will go. I am needed." He shook his head. "I don't like this." He said with a frown. "It feels...dishonorable to leave you to face this alone, Serene."

"Then why can't you..." Sara broke off what she was going to say and bowed her head again. "I apologize."

"Sara." Karl said with a trace of sadness. "I am Tenno. My duty is not done. I have...feelings for Serene. I don't know what they are, but they exist." A catch to his voice was the only change. "She has asked this of me and I can find no honorable way to deny her this wish even though I feel it is wrong for me to leave her to raise a child alone."

"She will not be alone." Iriana said formally. Karl looked at her and Iriana nodded. "My mate left when I declared I would not abort Mishka or give her up for adoption. I will not leave Serene to face rearing a child alone." Karl bowed to her from the waist and she nodded. "You are not my mate. You wish to aid, and your duty says otherwise, not your stiff necked pride."

"We could have lost you when that woman -Lis- poisoned you." Serene said with a gulp. "I thought you were dead, Karl." She bit her lip to keep from crying. "I thought I would never get the chance to apologize." Sara hugged Serene again as Karl nodded soberly.

"There is...one thing..." Iriana said slowly. "Serene, I want you to do something for me."

"Anything I can do." Serene said with a shrug. "What do you need?"

"I want you to hold yourself up off your chair for as long as you can." Iriana had a portable scanner in hand as she rose and stepped to Serene's side. Sara stared from her mom to Iriana and then scooted when Karl waved her to top come closer. "Don't push it. But I need to see how strong you are now, physically. You spent quite a while in that bed."

"Oh." Serene said, her face worried. She put her hands on the armrest of her wheelchair and lifted her body from the chair. She held it easily. "How long?"

"As long as you can." Iriana said, her eyes on the scanner.

Sara looked from Serene to Karl, to Iriana and then back to her mom. But she did not speak. Serene kept the pose for a minute. Then two. Then her arms started quivering. She grimaced and held the pose for another minute, but she was obviously weakening. She snarled and held it, then she gave a small cry as one of her arms gave way and she landed back on her rump.

"Mom?" Sara asked, worried. She darted to Serene's side, but Serene smiled at her, taking deep breaths.

"I am okay, Sara. But..." Serene shook her head, dismayed. "I am too weak. Aren't I, Iriana?" She coughed and sputtered a bit.

"You spent three _months_ in a bed, Serene." Iriana said sadly. "I am amazed you held it for three and a half minutes." Her face held awe.

"Iriana..." Serene said, gasping for breath. "Please, don't hold back. Give it to me straight."

"Serene..." Iriana said slowly. "I can't... As your doctor, I cannot allow you to engage in procreation activities. You are not strong enough. You would hurt yourself or he would hurt you by accident." Serene wilted a little and Iriana stepped close to offer comfort. "Serene... It's okay. He can come back when you are stronger."

"I don't know if I will be able, healer." Karl said in the silence that fell. "If I _can_, I will. I swear it. But I don't know if I will be alive." Serene choked back a sob and Karl rose to his feet, stepping close. "Serene..." He waited until she looked up and then spoke again. "What is more important to you? The act? Or the child?"

"No." Serene said with a wince. "I want to... I want make it right..." She sobbed.

"Serene." Karl said calmly. "You have. The act or the child, Serene?" He pressed.

"The child." Serene said with a heave. "Karl, I am sorry... I wanted..." She slumped a bit. Karl laid a hand on her shoulder and she covered it with both of her own. Serene bowed her head. "What do you want me to call the child?"

"Serene." Karl chided her. "You haven't even got it yet. Don't count your children until they are born." He smiled as she sputtered a bit. "You and your family will come up with a good name."

"You..." Sara had recoiled a few steps. "You are going to do... I mean... Needles and stuff?" The girl shivered a bit.

"Artificial means work, Sara." Iriana said quietly. "And we don't use needles."

"I... I don't..." Sara shook her head.

"Sara?" Serene asked, concerned. "What is wrong?"

"I don't like the idea." Sara said slowly. "I mean... If you and he love one another, then you make a baby. But if Iriana mixes stuff in a test tube to make a baby..." She swallowed, paling. Karl looked at the others, then slowly went down on one knee and held out a hand to Sara, who stared at it as if it were venomous. She took it and he gave a squeeze before releasing her hand."Karl... I..."

"Sara. We are not Corpus." Karl said slowly. "Have we hurt you?" Sara stared at him.

"The doc did..." Sara said slowly. "The one who thought I was a spy or something. Then when Serene... um..."

"Went nuts." Serene said quietly, not moving. "They used needles on you. Oh, Sara..."She breathed, her face ashen. "I didn't think."

"No." Sara said quickly. "No, I want you happy, Serene."

"_Your_ happiness matters too, Sara." Serene said sharply. She looked at Karl and nodded. "We can wait."

"No!" Sara exclaimed. "I... Mom..." Sara wilted a little. "I don't..." She shook herself and dashed her forearm across her face to wipe away the tears that had started to fall. She walked to where Serene sat frozen and hugged Serene tight. "I want a little brother or sister. And I want to stop being afraid."

"Sara." Karl warned her as he rose to his feet again. "Fear is a natural part of life. Everything that lives, fears. Without fear, would we know what courage is?"

"I don't know." Sara admitted. "The idea creeps me out. It makes my flesh crawl. But..." She shook her head and hugged Serene again. "I want you happy." She almost begged Serene.

"Sara." Serene pulled Sara close and held her as the girl sobbed. "Oh, Sara..." Serene crooned as she held her sobbing daughter.

"Do it." Sara said fiercely. "But I _don't_ want to watch."

"No one will make you." Iriana and Karl said in unison. The two Tenno looked at one another, shared a soft smile and nodded. For a long moment, no one spoke. Finally, Karl broke the silence.

"Sara?" The male Tenno said softly. "Serene is going to need a lot of help. Pregnancy is not easy at all."

"It's nine months, right?" Sara asked. "And..." She paused. "Mom Amelia's teachings were not all that thorough, she didn't have a lot of time."

"Nine months, yes." Iriana said quietly. "It's a lot of work, even if there are no problems. Serene, are you _sure?_" She pushed.

"I am sure." Serene said without any hesitation. She brushed Sara's short hair and spoke sadly. "I don't want to hurt you, Sara."

"And _I_ want _you_ happy." Sara said with a nod. The girl took a deep breath and looked at Iriana. "What do we do?"

"_You_ have lessons." Iriana said with a snap that was belied by the twinkle in her eyes. Sara groaned but it was good natured. "Mishka should be here today. Try and keep her out of trouble?" Iriana begged.

"I am a kid, not a miracle worker." Sara said with a grin. But then she sobered. "I will do my best."

"I know you will, Sara." Iriana said with a nod. "I know you will. Serene, Karl and I will go down to the medical bay. All the gear we need is there and I need to run some tests on Serene." Serene looked at her and Iriana raised a hand. "You were unconscious a long time, Serene. There were some things we didn't think to check. Your reproductive organs were low on the list." Serene grimaced, but nodded. Iriana nodded back. "And Karl has to..." She paused, Karl was staring off into space. "Karl?"

"I was just thinking..." Karl said slowly. "Have the prisoners been interrogated?"

"Jasmina handled that." Iriana said with a scowl. "I am not impartial enough. She said she was going to handle it."

"Then she did." Serene said quietly. "She doesn't make idle boasts. Karl?" Serene asked when he nodded again.

"You are going to need help." Karl said with a sigh. "And I can't stay. Will they be mindwiped, Healer?"

"That is the usual procedure." Iriana said, her face stern. "Why? Where are you going with this?"

"I am not sure." Karl admitted. "But I might..." He trailed off. "I don't know." He concluded. "I need to talk to Jasmina." He said reluctantly. Serene looked at him and Karl shrugged. "I don't _like_ her, but I can talk to her."

"I regret that you and she are in opposition." Serene said with a sigh. "But she _is_ a manipulative witch on occasion. A good friend, but..." She sighed. "A manipulative witch."

"Don't throw your friends away, Serene." Karl warned softly. "Or you wind up like me. Friendless." He paused as Sara rose from hugging her mom and stepped towards him, slowly so as not to appear threatening. "Sara?"

"You have friends." Sara declared extending her arms slowly. Karl smiled at her and she embraced him. "_We_ are your friends. Now and always."

"Always is a long time, Sara." Karl cautioned her. "But... Thanks." He said as he returned the embrace carefully.

"What is your idea, Karl?" Serene asked.

"I am not sure." Karl said as he released Sara and she stepped back. "But from what Lis said, she wasn't rogue by choice and she ran instead of following orders. Yes, she led the rogues here, but..." He shook his head. Serene paused and then gasped.

"Karl!" Serene said sharply. "She is in love with _you!_"

"She was a good kid, Serene." Karl said softly. "A good Tenno. I have killed so many rogue kin... Maybe we can rehabilitate one? Or two?" Serene stared at him, dumbfounded yet again, but Iriana was looking thoughtful. "They will never be allowed to leave the tower. But wiping their minds would be a waste."

"I don't know, Karl." Iriana said slowly. "I do know Serene _is_ going to need help."

"Let me talk to Jasmina." Karl said with a sigh. "I just hope it doesn't get too loud..."

"Or fiery." Serene said with a grimace. "You _might_ want to put your warframe back on." Karl looked at her and she shrugged. "You might. Her powers are not the only thing hot about her. She has a temper the rest of the clan _fears_. I shudder to think what she did to Olim."

"I will talk to her." Karl's soft words ended the discussion.


	14. Chapter 14

**Punishment**

"Karl?" Jasmina asked as Karl entered the tower's detention wing. "You wanted to talk to me?" She asked. She still wore her warframe.

"You interrogated Luc and Lis." Karl said without preamble. He was not wearing his warframe.

"I supervised the tower systems doing a full scan of their memories, yes." Jasmina said, obviously not bothered by Karl's brusqueness. "The male, Luc, is fairly straightforward. He supported his clan leader despite his reservations. He didn't actually _hurt_ anyone during the attack, but he did subvert the tower security systems." Karl nodded. "The female..." Jasmina made a noise of regret. "She is a victim."

"You are sure?" Karl asked quietly.

"Are you questioning my competence?" Jasmina asked with a bite. Only a fool would have called her tone friendly.

"No." Karl said evenly. "Lis is..." He sighed a little. "She is a problem."

"She is a victim." Jasmina repeated. The Ember's helmet turned to scrutinize Karl. "And she is in love with you."

"She led them here." Karl said with a shrug, looking out a window at a pair of tables. On them, golden forms lay. The only parts that were not covered were the faces. Those had clear plastic masks that were connected to various tubes. Both looked asleep. "She did not surrender when the Elders ordered Nicholas to."

"Did _any_ of them?" Jasmina asked sourly.

"Yes." Karl said evenly. Jasmina stiffened and Karl shook his head. "One. She was a girl I had...known." He said softly.

"Cora." Jasmina said in an undertone. "Lis mentioned her. Said she was gone one day."

"Gone?" Karl asked, but he wasn't looking at Jasmina. No, he was looking at something only he could see. "Yeah, she was gone. When a warframe beats someone not wearing one to death, they are gone." Jasmina jerked, but Karl wasn't done. "I didn't do it. She surrendered to me, out of memory of what we had. I took her to the Elders. They put her in protective custody. It...wasn't enough."

"I am sorry." Jasmina said, her tone concerned. "What happened?"

"One of Nicholas' people found her. A Loki." Karl said softly. "He teleported her out of her safehouse before they even knew he was there. The renegades demanded me in trade. I went."

"Of course you did." Jasmina said softly. "And then?"

"They killed her." Karl said with a sigh. "I had just arrived. The peacekeepers were trying to talk them down and her head came flying out the window of their hideout." Jasmina gagged, but Karl wasn't done. "She was dead before they cut off her head. Beaten to death. I found out later. I don't know if she tried to escape, insulted them or what. Doesn't matter now."

"You killed them." Jasmina said with a nod. "How many?"

"Three." Karl said evenly. "Sneaky sorts. You might have liked them."

"I doubt it." Jasmina said with a snarl.

"They were not bad people, Tenno Jasmina." Karl said with a shrug. "I liked Geog. He was the Loki. Always quick with a laugh to lighten the mood, flighty but dependable. Zintas wore an Ash warframe. Never said two words when one would suffice, and a great poker player. Mina was a Mag. She was the vicious one. She was probably the one who beat Cora and cut off her head to send a message. Vicious, but only to enemies. They were good people who had the misfortune of following orders from a traitor."

"And irritating you." Jasmina said with a nod. Karl did not react. "What happened?"

"Their orders were to kill me." Karl said with a shrug. "I let them try."

"Three to one?" Jasmina asked, trying not to sound disbelieving. "You took the ones by surprise when you arrived and they didn't attack as one. And you had a Hek. Did you have a Hek that time?"

"No." Karl said with a shake of his head. "A Braton." She stared at him and he shrugged. "They cornered me and despite my Iron Skin, Mina knocked me down with her magnetism. I didn't lose my grip on my Gram. I came up swinging."

"_Ouch._" Jasmina said with feeling. "All three?"

"Never underestimate your opponent." He said dryly. "They thought I was down. They were closing in to stab me, they all had daggers, armor piercing. I got Mina and Zintas with my first swing. Mortal, both of them." Karl said, still looking out the window. "Goeg dodged. But he couldn't dodge my follow up slam. I don't care how subtle a Loki is, a Gram between the shoulder blades seriously cramps his style. That was the end of the fight." He shook his head. "History. We need to deal with now."

"Yes, we do." Jasmina said, shaking her head. "But... I thought _I_ could be vicious..."

"I wasn't given a _choice_, Tenno." Karl said, her tone hardening. "You think I _enjoyed_ it? Seeing Cora's head roll to a stop at my _feet_? Knowing that _I_ was the cause? Seeing my _kin_, people I knew, people I trusted, _loved_ even, cut down by _my_ blade?" He demanded, his voice about as warm as interstellar space.

"No." Jasmina said after a moment. "No, I don't."

"Good." Karl said with a snap. "Now, Lis is... as I say, a problem. _You_ say she is a victim. The _Elders_ say she is a renegade. _She_ is the reason the rogues came here and did what they did. All the death and pain." Karl said, his tone moderating. "What did you learn from her interrogation?"

"Horror. She was in cryo longer than the others. They brought her out gently and got her out of her warframe." Jasmina said in a sick tone. "She woke... And they had prepared a place for her. She saw a table with straps and...well... freaked. I would have too." Jasmina said with a shudder.

"How did she get away?" Karl asked.

"They knocked her unconscious." Jasmina said with a sigh. "But they didn't sedate her or restrain her. I don't know... Maybe they thought they could persuade her?" She asked with a shrug. "I don't see how or _why_ they would have thought that."

"They may have wanted to be gentle." Karl said with a matching sigh. "After all, she was their only female with Mina and Cora gone." Jasmina made a gagging noise and Karl nodded. "I know. So... Then what?"

"That is the weird part." Jasmina said with a scowl that was visible even through her sealed helmet. "Somehow, she isn't all that clear _how_, she found a void key that took her to another part of the dojo. The armory where her warframe was." Karl stiffened and Jasmina nodded. "Doesn't make sense, I know."

"There are outside forces acting on Tenno." Karl said uneasily. Jasmina looked at him and he shrugged. "I can't talk about how I know or _what_ I know. But I _can_ say that. There are."

"You think one of these 'outside forces' gave her a key?" Jasmina asked curiously.

"Either that or someone in the clan didn't like what Nicholas planned and left it for her." Karl said with a shrug. "Six of one, half dozen of the other. If it was wasn't Luc..." He looked at Jasmina and she shook her head. "Then we likely won't ever find out. So she got her warframe and made a break for the gate. How did she get here?"

"She remembered a sanctuary here. She helped set it up when the terraforming was done." Jasmina said with a nod. "The rogues caught up to her before she could get clear of their dojo and apparently Nicholas ordered them to stop her using any force necessary. Hence the multiple bullet holes in her warframe. She was hurt, bad. She hid her backtrail -more to confuse Nicholas than hide from the Grineer who she didn't have a clue about- but it is entirely possible the Grineer could track it. I have kin out muddying her trail as we speak."

"Good." Karl agreed. He shook his head. "It would be easier if she had been bait for a trap."

"She was and is scared stiff." Jasmina said with a snap. "She knows she messed up, coming here. But where else could she _go_? All of the other places she knew were gone."

"I can understand that." Karl replied evenly. "I need to talk to her."

"She is going to beg you to kill her." Jasmina said with a snarl. "She doesn't deserve-" She broke off as Karl raised a hand.

"She violated the sanctity of this place, Tenno Jasmina." Karl said with a nod. Jasmina snarled again but remained silent. "What she did demands punishment, _but_..." He continued when she would have interjected. "...as you say, she is a _victim_. Does she _deserve_ mindwipe? What do the tower systems say?" He asked.

"They are...confused." Jasmina said after a moment. "She is an enemy, but not. She is guilty, but innocent. She led enemies her and committed a crime here. She poisoned _you_, twice."

"If she hadn't the first time, the fight would have taken a long, long time and I don't know if I would have won. Nichoals was healing his people as fast as I hurt them." Karl replied honestly. "The second time? I can see her point of view. I don't love her but she loves me. She expected to die for what she did, but..." He broke off with a shrug. "I don't blame her." Jasmina turned to look at him, her incredulous stare visible even through her helmet again. "I am not stupid, Tenno Jasmina." Karl said quietly. "I just don't return her love."

"I see." Jasmina said with a nod. "That is...odd. But understandable."

"Welcome to my life." Karl said with a snort. "And Luc?"

"He is more straightforward." Jasmina said with a nod. "He obeyed his clan lord. He had misgivings but obeyed. He will be put into service, making sure the ways he used to deactivate the tower systems cannot ever be used again."

"I understand he kept Sara out of harm's way." Karl said with a sidelong look out the window.

"Yes, he did. According to his memories, Nicholas said they were after Lis." Jasmina said in a painfully neutral voice. "That they didn't _want_ to fight anyone. Then they got here, and the tower defenses opened fire. They fought their way in, found Lis in the medical ward and found Serene, Iriana and Sara as well. Nicholas said something about 'Four for the price of one'. Luc was seriously thinking of grabbing Sara and running for the portal."

"He didn't do it." Karl said flatly.

"No." Jasmina said just as flatly. "What do you say? The tower has been waiting for you."

"The tower can have Luc. He always was a brainy one. The control systems will keep him secure and are not breachable from the inside." Karl said with a nod. Out the window a series of mechanical arms descended towards one of the still golden forms. One of them bore a set of recognizable golden hoops. Soon they would be mounted to the forehead of the golden skinned figure."I hope he _can_ help the tower upgrade it's defenses." He glanced at Jasmina. "Serene is going to need a lot of help soon."

"She doesn't now?" Jasmina asked sourly only to freeze as Karl stilled into immobility. "What?"

"You are going to find out soon, I might as well tell you now." Karl said with a frown. "Serene asked to bear my child. She is talking with Iriana right now. The healer is making sure she is hale enough."

"_What?_" Jasmina demanded, stepping away from him. Her hands came up as if to rend and tear. "What the _hell_ did you do to her?" For his part, Karl didn't move. Didn't react at all. "Did you...?" She broke off.

"I forgave her." Karl said quietly. "I think I have started her on the road to forgiving herself. I am not sure. I don't like this. A father has a duty to provide for his offspring." He ignored the still warfame and looked out the window again. "I need to talk to Lis."

"You... I..." Jasmina stammered, her control totally undone. "Okay." She finally managed to grate out. "Alone?" She asked, calming.

"No." Karl said simply. "I need a witness." Jasmina jerked and her hands fell to her sides.

"You trust me for that?" Jasmina asked, incredulous.

"I don't _trust_ you at all." Karl replied without heat. "But you do have a certain amount of honor, if different from mine. So you will make a good witness."

Jasmina did not speak and both waited as another set of mechanical arms picked up the golden form that was not being worked on and carried it to the side. A door nearby opened and Karl walked to it, followed by a silent Jasmina. Just beyond was a small room. The only furniture was a table on which was laid a golden skinned form. On close examination, the female Tenno wore a golden bodysuit. A beam of golden energy came from a hidden slot on the ceiling and played across her face. She groaned.

"Lis?" Karl asked quietly.

"Karl?" Lis asked, fuddled from sleep. Then she screamed. "_No! No!_ _Don't!_ Don't make me a machine! I didn't! I swear, I didn't mean to... Please!" Her body didn't move, just her face. "Kill me, Karl! _Kill me, please!_ _Don't let them make me a machine!_"

"Lis, be calm." Karl said quietly. "You are guilty. You led them here. You know this." The female Tenno relaxed a little.

"I... I know." Lis said with a shiver that only touched her face. "I am sorry. I didn't think... I just had to run."

"I know." Karl said, his voice turning kind. "Oh, Lis... Why didn't you come to _me_? Or the Elders? Or _anyone_?"

"It hurt." Lis said in an oddly childlike voice. "I was... I never expected them to _shoot_ me. And armor piercers... I was bleeding... he said... I..." Jasmina jerked but remained silent.

"_Who_ said, Lis?" Karl pressed gently.

"I dunno." Lis replied. "I was staggering away from the portal and I collapsed. My warframe wasn't healing me as it should. Then there was another Tenno there. He held me... eased me... I was fading. He woke me up." Lis said softly. "He told me to seek help. When I looked up again, he was gone and I found my way to the tower entrance. Everything had changed, but the landmarks were still the same. How long has it been, Karl? No one would say!"

"Centuries, Lis." Karl said in a whisper soft voice. Lis jerked and started to cry. "I don't know how many. Doesn't matter."

"I am sorry, Karl." Lis said, her tone abject. "I am so sorry. I know... I know my freedom, and my mind are forfeit. But I have to say I am sorry. For not leaving when you called us to. For trusting Nicholas. For poisoning you here. I..." Tears were falling like rain now. "I am ready."

"Lis..." Karl said sadly, stepping up to the edge of the table to gently stroke her cheek with a huge finger. "I am sorry I do not return your feelings. Shhh, little one. It's okay. I have something very, very hard to ask you if you can do. If you can't, I understand."

"Karl... I..." Lis broke off, unable to continue. "What?"

"Serene asked me something, Lis. I forgave her, you know." Karl said quietly. "I am trying to get her to forgive herself."

"I am glad." Lis said softly. "It was too much. It was eating you up."

"I know." Karl agreed. "Anyway. I thought that would be the end of it. But... she asked me for something that floored me. I never in a million years would have expected her to ask what she did."

"She wants you child." Lis said with no hesitation. Karl jerked and she made a soft noise of amusement. "So do I, but... It is not to be. You told her 'yes'?" A strange bubble of amusement was heard in her voice.

"I..." Karl shook his head, baffled. "I don't _like_ it. I can't stay, help her raise her child. That feels wrong."

"I see." Lis said slowly. "But why talk to me?"

"Because you _will_ be here, and available to help Serene, who is having some serious problems with her new lack of mobility." Karl said with a nod. "She is putting on a brave face, but she is having problems."

"Karl, I won't _remember_ this." Lis protested. "And if the tower systems order me to aid her, I would."

"Lis..." Karl's finger traced her cheek. "If I asked you to, could you do that? Help a woman who would bear _my_ child?"

"I don't see the point." Lis protested. "The tower systems..." She broke off as Karl's finger tapped her lips. "What?"

"She needs more than a mindless automaton, Lis." Karl said quietly. "She needs...a friend. Can you be that friend?"

"I..." Lis stammered. "Karl... I... You have no reason to trust me..."

"You will have a control system attached, Lis." Karl said gently. She gulped and he continued. "You will never leave this tower. _That_ is non-negotiable. You led them here, but... Oh Lis..." Karl bowed his head and Jasmina stared as tears fell to splash Lis' face. "If I had known what Nicholas planned, I would have come. Even without me loving you. Even with _all_ of them against me, I would have _come_."

"Karl, no..." Lis said concerned. "It's okay. I am alive..."

"I failed everyone I ever cared about, Lis." Karl said sadly, wiping his face. "Every. Single. One. Serene. Master Kirana who gave her life to save me from being a mindless slave to Orokin music, Cora... I couldn't love you after Serene and Master Kirana. Cora took me by surprise, she literally tripped me up, got me drunk and ravaged me." He said with a self deprecating grin as Lis laughed. But then he sobered. "Lis, Cora wanted a conquest. Not a life together."

"I know." Lis said with a quaver in her voice. "I was the youngest. She did care for you."

"It got her killed, Lis." Karl said sadly. "I cannot love again. It...never ends well." Jasmina jerked back, her posture startled, but he ignored her.

"Karl... no..." Lis said with a sad cry. "You deserve better!"

"Lis, please." Karl begged. "Can you help Serene? I _can't_." The admission obviously hurt him.

"If the tower will let me, I will serve Serene as I would have served with you." Lis said in a voice about as soft as a bar of iron. "Sister to brother, yours in life and death... Sister to sister, _hers_ in life and death."

"Brother to sister." Karl said softly. "Yours in life and death." He crossed his arms and bowed his head, touching his forehead to hers. "Thank you, Lis. Sister."

"You are welcome, Karl. Brother." Lis said as she relaxed. "I am ready." She said again and a set of mechanical arms unfolded from the ceiling. The golden hoops were arrayed around a point of metal that glowed ominously.

Lis was shivering as the arms came down and started working around her, then she gave a sharp scream as the glowing point was driven into her forehead. Then she gasped.

"It... doesn't hurt..." Lis said slowly. "I expected it to..." She gave a sigh and fell asleep, the machinery still working around her. It would take some time for the control circuitry to work it's way through her brain since the systems did _not_ want to cause irreparable damage now.

"You know what?" Jasmina asked as she moved to the door. Karl did not respond, looking at the still form. "You _do_ deserve better."

"Go. Away." Karl said softly, but with dreadful force. Jasmina bowed her head and left in silence.


	15. Chapter 15

**Family is more than blood**

Karl stepped into the main medical ward to see Serene laughing at something Iriana had said. The chair ridden woman was sitting beside a large scanner that whirred as Iriana worked it. Serene looked up, saw him and smiled. He smiled back.

"How did it go?" Serene asked, worried.

"She will wake in a bit." Karl replied as he stepped to Iriana's side so as not to disrupt the scans. "The preliminary implantation doesn't take long, especially when it will go no further. She swore to you, Serene."

"She _what?_" Serene snapped, only to freeze as Iriana coughed and motioned her to remain still. "Yes, Iriana, I'll be good. Karl..." She protested.

"She will do it for me and she will do it for you." Karl said with a nod. "The tower will monitor her, control her. But she will retain her memories. She is... brave and loyal, Serene. She is also lost." Karl said heavily. "Please... do not hate her."

"I won't." Serene said, sounding faint. "She didn't need to swear to me."

"Yes she did, Serene." Karl said softly. "After all the betrayals she has suffered... She did. She needs some kind of solidity in her life. I know you will not abuse her. And... She needs the support. She was always a little fragile, Serene. Strong but brittle."

"I can be gentle, Karl." Serene said with a sigh. "And I swear to you I will do the best I can."

"That is all I ask." Karl said evenly. "Healer?" He looked at Iriana who nodded. "Prognosis?"

"Aside from her legs and the song that she is slowly retreating from, Serene is in perfect health." Iriana said with a smile. But then it faltered. "But she is not strong enough to do it the natural way."

"Understood." Karl knelt beside Serene's chair and held out his hand to her. Serene took it. "I do not like this, Serene. It smacks of what Nicholas wanted." Serene swallowed and nodded. "So I must ask again, formally, in the presence of a healer and with recorders on." He looked at Iriana who nodded after hitting a set of buttons. "Are you under pressure from me in any way, Serene?" She shook her head. "You wish this? A child by me?" She nodded. He shook his head. "Serene..." He groaned.

"I wish to bear your child, Tenno Karl." Serene said formally. "I know it will not be easy. I know you cannot stay to assist me. I have wanted your child since I woke from my rage all those years ago. A day after I slapped your face and went to the Elders with my lie about you forcing me to your bed. I wanted to make it right. I wanted to be your wife. I cannot. I know that now." Karl bowed his head and Serene gave his hand a squeeze. "I cannot fight any more but I _can_ do this. I want to make something right. I want your child. I want to bear your child, raise your child, and teach your child the way of honor." Karl took her hand in both of his and brought it to his lips, giving it a kiss before lowering it back down to her lap gently. "_You_ will be the listed father. The honored father." Karl jerked, but Serene wasn't done. "If you come in the future and want a place in your child's life, you will have it. No questions asked."

"Serene..." Karl protested. "I..."

"No." Serene's tone could have cut steel. "You are the father of my child. Let none say otherwise. Or face me." Her face was suddenly remote and terrifying.

"So mote it be." Karl said, sealing the pact between them. Serene sank back in her chair and sighed. Karl shook hi s head. "You are crazy. What if you find someone else?"

"_If_ I find someone else to live my life with..." Serene said, still formal. "I will ask _you_ if I may take your child with me."

"Serene!" Karl snapped, shocked. "There is no need for that." Serene started to protest, but he shook his head and continued. "No, please listen, Serene." Serene closed her mouth with a click and Karl continued. "With Iriana's help, you will bear the child you wish. Even with what help your family and the tower can provide, it will _not_ be easy. Your body will change, everything will change." He looked to the side and Iriana nodded. Karl continued. "The Way of the Warrior is hard, Serene. As you well know. But the Way of the Mother is _just_ as hard in some ways. You will nurture, you will teach. And eventually, you will have to watch as _your_ child goes his or her own way. As they go out into a dangerous world to find their own way. All that I ask of you is that you remember me. That you live your life with honor. That is _all_, Serene."

"It isn't enough!" Serene had tears falling now.

"Serene, I have never asked for more than to die with honor." Karl said softly. "You would give me a gift beyond compare. One I cannot accept. Please, Serene..." Serene was shaking her head, but was unable to speak. "The Way of the Warrior is death, Serene. You know this. I have to be focused, or my death is meaningless. I wish I could stay with you, help you raise _your_ child with honor. But I cannot. The child is yours Serene, not mine in anything except genetics. That is the way it must be. I will not do that to you or a child, confuse him or her with divided loyalties to someone who may never appear. I will not."

"Karl..." Serene begged. "Please..."

"No, Sister Serene." A new voice had all of them looking to the door where a golden skinned form stood. In appearance she was a Tenno. Her face was obscured by a golden visor, but the golden loops in front of her face declared that she was bound to the tower. Her voice was...off, but recognizable. "I greet you, Healer Iriana, Sister Serene. I am Lis. We met, but it was a hard meeting. I give apology for my arrival that set these events in motion."

"Lis." Karl said with a smile. "You are well?" He asked.

"As well as I can be." Lis replied as she stepped forward carefully. "My head hurts, but the tower systems assure me the pain will pass. They have had to help me learn to walk again, but I am getting better." She came to where Serene was sitting, frozen in shock and slowly went to her knees in front of the chair bound Tenno. "Sister Serene... Sister to Sister, yours in life and death." She crossed her arms and bowed her head formally.

"I..." Serene stammered. Then she shook herself and leaned forwards slowly and carefully. She leaned until she touched her forehead to the bars on the forehead of the golden form. "Well met sister. I accept your oath. Even though I do not feel I deserve it."

"Deserve has nothing to do with it, Sister Serene." Lia said gently. "You may call me Lis. May I call you Serene?"

"Please." Serene said with a sigh. "Although you will probably want to call me other things." She ignored as both Karl and Iriana sputtered. 'Bonehead.' Iriana said under her breath just as Karl said 'Moron' under _his_. "I don't understand, Karl." Serene said sadly. "I want to give you this. It is your child too."

"Please, sister." Lis said sadly. "Please accept that he _cannot_ accept what you offer. There are reasons. I do not agree with all of his reasons, but they are his. And he will die before he laxs his vigilance. He must follow his way and you must follow yours. They diverge here." She put her hands on Serene's and gave them a squeeze. "I am here and I will do what I can for you, sister. For the honor of the man we _both_ love." Serene stared at her and then burst into tears. Lis embraced the sobbing woman, crooning.

Karl shook his head and spoke to Iriana. "Healer? What do you need?"

"I don't understand." Iriana said sharply. Then she paused as Karl's desolate expression registered. She shook herself. "Come with me." She snapped as she rose. Karl rose and followed. She led him into a small room with a desk with a chair and a table as the only furniture. "Up." She commanded as she sat and started typing on a keyboard that appeared in midair. "You just hurt her, very badly."

"I know." Karl said quietly. "Do I need to undress?" He still wore the bodysuit that had been underneath his warframe.

"No." Iriana said coldly. "Can you explain, in words that make sense to me, why you just denied her that?" Karl lay down on the table with a sigh.

"I will try." Karl said quietly as machinery slowly surrounded him. "It may come out as insulting, but please believe that it is not intended as such."

"It seemed pretty insulting to _me_." Iriana snapped. "All she wants is to give _you_ the choice."

"I know, and I honor her for it." Karl said with a grimace. "But I cannot accept that. I will not _be_ here, healer. I may not be _alive_. It is not _right_ for her to seek _my_ approval for something that is her right and her responsibility. I will not divide her child's loyalties. Growing up without a father will be hard enough." Iriana winced and Karl frowned. "I apologize, healer. I had no right to say that."

"It hurts and will for a long, long time." Iriana said sadly. "But... Karl..." She sighed deeply. "Remain still." She commanded and Karl froze. Karl felt pressure but no pain. "First sample done, we need four." She said quietly. "Why?"

"I have no right to anything about her child, Healer Iriana." Karl said softly. "If she wishes to remember me, and teach the child about me, that is all well and good. But I cannot focus on whether or not Serene will want me to come back. Whether or not this child will need me. I cannot."

"Remain still." Iriana said with a gulp. "Second Sample done. I.. I guess can see that." She agreed. "I thought I knew about the Way of the Warrior, but... I didn't."

"It is a hard path to follow. I cannot break from the Way, healer.' Karl said sadly. "And I would want to. I know my limits. And that surpasses them."

"I see." Iriana said with a frown. "Remain still. Okay, third sample done. One more after this. Is there _anything_ I can do?"

"Yes." Karl agreed. "Be there for her. Help her. Do not coddle her, but aid her in her path. She has no idea what is coming. You do." Iriana nodded soberly. "Lis will obey your orders, Healer."

"Last one." Iriana said with a glance at the instruments. "Remain still." Karl did 't move and Iriana sighed. "All done. Hold on while the gear retracts." She shook her head as the machinery started to pull away from Karl. "There is...one other thing..." Karl looked at the healer who flushed. "The fallen... Their genetic material..."

"I see." Karl said slowly as he swung his legs off the table. Nothing so much as twinged. "The tower wishes it?"

"For the future." Iriana said just as slowly as he had spoken. "To store. Samples."

"All but Nicholas." Karl said in a quiet voice. "The others were...good Tenno once. Nicholas' legacy ends here, healer." He said flatly. "The others..." He shook his head. "If some good can come of this horror, then I have no objections."

"Very well." Iriana said with a nod. She hit a set of keys and nodded again. "It is done. Samples from the bodies of the others will go into long term storage, Nicholas' samples have been destroyed."

"May I add a sample?" Karl asked slowly.

"Yours will be on file." Iriana said, cautious.

"Not mine. Every one of the renegades I killed, I had to take DNA samples from. For identity purposes." Karl's voice was a soft, sad thing. "And I took them from another who foreswore Nicholas and was killed for it by his people."

"Are the samples viable?" Iriana asked cautiously.

"I don't know." Karl said uneasily. "I am no med tech. I can get you the samples, let you check them out. If they are not, then... Well... No one will mind if you destroy them."

"You might." Iriana said with a frown.

"I have my memories, Healer." Karl said with a shrug. "I need no other reminder. How long will it take? To... give Serene what she wishes?"

"A few minutes." Iriana said sadly. "I... I still think you are being too harsh. But I am not a warrior."

"I must remain focused, Healer." Karl said softly. "I thank you for the thought, and I honor Serene for wishing to give me the choice. But it is _not_ mine. I have _no_ right to it."

"I disagree." Iriana said with a sigh. "But I can see your mind is made up."

"Healer..." Karl said seriously. "If I am not 100% focused on where I am and what I am doing, I am likely to get killed. Or get others of our kin killed. I _cannot_ allow distractions and this is a massive one. I am sorry, but that is my final say. When I leave, I will not return until and unless I am needed here again. I hope that day never comes."

"I hate to say it, but I hope that too." Iriana said sadly. "You will be missed."

"All I ask is that you remember me, Healer." Karl said with a nod. "And live your life with honor. Nothing more. I am Tenno. I do my duty."

"We do our duty." Iriana said sadly. "Will you say goodbye to Serene and Sara?"

"I will." Karl said calmly. "Thank you, Healer."

"For?" Iriana asked cautiously.

"For not trying to force me to accept Serene's wish." Karl said softly. "It wouldn't work and we would part in anger. I do not wish that. You are a good Tenno, Healer Iriana. I wish you well." He bowed his head in respect.

"You are a good Tenno, Warrior Karl." Iriana said, bowing her head as well. "I wish you well."

They stepped out of the room and paused. Serene sat near the door in her chair, Sara stood right beside her, and Lis stood just behind Serene's chair. But it was the Ember warframe that was nearby that had Karl and Iriana stiffening. Jasmina was pacing.

"Karl." The Ember said without preamble. "We have a problem."

"I messed up, Karl." Lis said sadly. "I didn't think."

"Hush, Lis." Serene said calmly. "Not your fault. Don't make me beat you." Her tone was joking rather than threatening and Lis snickered.

"What is wrong?" Karl asked.

"I didn't cover my trail well enough." Lis said, her tone worried.

"Lis, you were bleeding all over the place. Not your fault." Jasmina said with a sigh. "My kin have been backtracking her trail and... The Grineer found it."

"Are they coming here?" Iriana asked, scared. She relaxed a little as both Serene and Jasmina shook their heads in unison.

"No." Jasmina said with a shrug. "The trail ends. My kin are thorough. Problem is, they are heading the _other_ way."

"Towards our dojo entrance." Lis said into the silence that fell. "No one is there to guard! If they get in..."

"They won't." Karl said with a nod. "Sara? Serene?" Karl stepped to where Serene was sitting and held out a hand. Sara put her hand in his and Serene covered Sara's with hers. Karl clasped both hands in his and bowed over them. "May your lives be long, happy and fruitful. May you both know joy." Sara bowed her head. Serene met his eyes and hers were red, but she wasn't crying. "It has been my honor to meet you, Sara daughter of Serene." He gave Sara's hand a gentle squeeze that she returned and then she withdrew it.

"The honor was mine." Sara said in a whisper. Karl bowed from the neck to her and she returned it. Then he looked to Serene.

"We have come a very long way from our childhoods, Tenno Serene." Karl said softly. "May you find peace and joy in your new way."

"May your enemies run with fear, Tenno Karl." Serene said, her voice fierce. "May your blade be true, your armor strong, your way well lit and your path straight." She bowed her head and spoke again. "My child will know it's father. Even if you never meet, you have a place here with our family. In our hearts. Always." Karl raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Then he laid it back in her lap, spun on his heel and was gone.

Only when he was gone, did Serene lower her face to her hands and cry.


	16. Chapter 16

**None shall Pass!**

It had been the work of minutes to get his warframe on and rearm. The tower had collected Karl's gear and thoughtfully cleaned it. He hadn't had to think. Then getting back to his ship and sending the DNA samples of his slain kin back to the tower. Again, simple. He hadn't had to think. But now, Karl was waiting. He stood just outside the cave that led to the entrance of his clan's dojo ad sighed.

Since his dojo key had been disabled after he had broken with Nicholas, Karl had no access to the clan's redoubt. Since it was hidden in deep space and behind powerful sensor baffling systems, he had no clue where it was. He knew where the hidden groundside entrance on Mercury was, however and had asked his ship to drop him near it. He had no clue _how_ the portals worked. How he could take a step on a terraformed planet and then land on the deck plates of a hidden Tenno base. He didn't need to know how it worked. It worked. That was enough. He didn't think he could go through the portal again. It had always needed a key from what he understood. It didn't matter. The Grineer had figured out ways to open Orokin portals without the proper keys, so... They had to be stopped.

Karl had helped build the dojo. It had been a proud moment, the one where their small clan had gone from a wandering group of individuals to a settled group. Well, settled as in location. There had always been a bit of friction. Tenno were no different from baseline humans in that regard. Put a number of strong personalities together in one place and there was _bound_ to be friction. There had even been a knock down drag out fight over the placement of a reactor, Karl remembered fondly. Nicholas had finally dumped the two involved into the dueling arena with orders to 'Work it out'. They had. It had been good times and bad. It had been...home.

But then, Ceres and the aftermath. The others had been declared rogue, and since Karl had been the only one who had known them all, he had been the logical person to hunt them. There had been a few attempts to send other Tenno with him, but without fail, he had ditched them at the first opportunity. It had been his responsibility. His duty. And now... It was done. Funny. He felt no different. He had always assumed he would die in the process of hunting his rogue kin, or, barring that, suicide after. He hadn't and that bothered him.

He considered that. The ancient Japanese samurai who had been the basis for Hagakure had been denied a traditional death when his lord passed away due to illness. Instead, he had become a Buddhist priest and had spent his remaining days at a monastery. A younger samurai had visited him regularly and their talks on the core precepts of Bushido, the way of the samurai, had been written down by the younger samurai and passed down through that clan. After many years, other had found the writings and had taken them to heart.

"'The Way of the Samurai is found in death." Karl murmured, quoting Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the older samurai who had become a priest. "'If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body was already dead, he gains freedom in the Way.'"

Karl did not wish for death. He wanted to live. He wanted to go back to Serene, beg her forgiveness and live out his days with her. But his wants were immaterial. He was Tenno. A living weapon, honed and trained to be a slayer, a killer. He had his duty and right now, his duty was fast approaching. He became aware of a presence nearby and growled.

"Be at peace, Tenno." Jasmina said softly as she came out of the shadows. She stepped up beside him, just out of reach even with the Orthos that hung on his back. "We have no quarrel this day."

"What do you want?" Karl snapped coldly.

"Serene and Iriana do not understand." Jasmina said softly. "I do. I came to offer apology for what I did in the tower." Karl glanced sidelong at her and she shrugged. "I would do the same again. I love Serene and you hurt her." The Ember's tone turned just as cold as the Rhino's.

"I did." Karl agreed. "But it is for the best. We are not the children we were."

"I know." Jasmina's tone turned softer. "What you did... Was kinder that I expected. I expected you to just leave. Thank you." Karl inclined his head in acknowledgement. "She will...move on, eventually."

"One can hope." Karl grunted.

"There is an entire company of Grineer coming." Jasmina said conversationally. "Almost three hundred of them." Karl did not react and Jasmina sighed. "I hope you have a better plan than to stand here and let them come and roll over you?" Karl grunted. "Do you have _any_ idea what Serene will do to me if I let you die uselessly?" She asked sourly. He had to chuckle at her tone. But then he sobered.

"Canyon is wired with explosives." Karl said softly. Jasmina jerked and Karl nodded. "Clan paranoia ran deep, especially during the war. Every entrance is hidden and trapped." He looked at her. "Don't tell me _yours_ isn't just as well defended."

"Can you set them off remotely?" Jasmina asked. Karl shook his head. "Why not?"

"I would need a dojo key to activate the triggers." Karl said with a shrug. "I can start the sequence manually. There is a hidden panel nearby."

"You don't have a key?" Jasmina asked softly.

"They changed the codes." Karl said with a shrug. "Hasn't worked since I...left."

"Would this help?" Jasmina pulled a dojo key from a pouch on her warframe and held it out to Karl who stiffened. "I intended to give it to you."

"Sure you did." Karl's tone had turned chilly again as he stared at Nicholas' dojo key. The _master_ key. It would open any portal, any lock in the dojo. All the riches of the clan, just lying there. Unguarded.

"I am not saying the thought did not occur." Jasmina said frankly. "Our dojo is small, yours by all accounts was massive. But don't tell me you haven't got _it_ trapped too."

"Dunno." Karl said with a shrug. "Been out of touch." He said, a hint of humor surfacing.

"It's also DNA locked." Jasmina said with a nod. Karl stared at her and barked a laugh. "Yes, I tried." She said sourly. "Like I said, the thought occurred. Also... if you fail..."

"I won't fail." Karl said softly. "But... Good point." He reached out and took the dojo key from Jasmina. It started to glow softly in his hand. He shared Nicholas' DNA. They had been twins after all. Karl touched it in several places and held it back out to her. She stared at him. "You have a clan. I do not."

"I cannot accept that." Jasmina said softly, staring at the glowing object. "After what my clan has done to you... Olim... _Me_... You would give us _that_?"

"It stands idle, Tenno Jasmina." Karl said gently. "Your clan is small, but..." He shook his head. "We are Tenno, we will endure. If you take this, it will bond to _your_ DNA. You will have unlimited access."

"Karl, I can't take that." Jasmina said, recoiling slightly. "I am no clan leader."

"Neither am I." Karl said with a shrug. Then his head shot up as noise sounded in the distance. Familiar noise. Grineer. "Go." He commanded. "Keep your kin from the canyon walls!" Jasmina faded back into the shadows, but her voice came once more.

"Fight well, Tenno." Then she was gone and Karl stood alone.

He hadn't told Jasmina that the hidden panel he had spoken of was behind a rock cluster in the middle of the canyon. No cover was anywhere nearby. He had checked the one in the cave. It had failed sometime during the Tenno's hibernation. The diagnostics had worked, but had showed red on the trigger devices in most of the places they had been set. Only one had shone green and _that_ control panel's hiding spot was in full view of the now deploying Grineer.

Most of the Grineer were the typical Lancers. Big, heavily armored and about as smart as a box of rocks. He saw others though. Troopers with shotguns, Napalms and Bombards with explosive launchers, Heavies with Gorgon machine guns. A couple of Ballista with Vulkar sniper rifles. And a... He paused. A few Scorpions. Like the one he had seen before. He couldn't get a good look at the one who seemed to be in command. Then he did and he cursed.

"Vor." He said under his breath.

The Grineer captain was a known threat and not a light one. He aimed, but then lowered his Latron Prime. He couldn't get a clear shot. And not hitting cleanly would do nothing but irritate the Grineer. He could see the tell tale signs of Orokin power that had reanimated the scum after a disastrous encounter with a squad of Tenno. Vor had gone after a slumbering Tenno and had run afoul of a rescue team. They had thought him slain, but apparently, his mastery of Orokin technology was sufficient to keep him going. Either that or he had cloning facilities aplenty.

The Grineer obviously know _something_ was here. They were deploying. Taking them by surprise was not going to work this time. The Lancers and Troopers moved from cover to cover, arrayed in battle formations much more useful in open terrain that in the cramped corridors of a ship. The Heavies, Napalms and Bombard covered the advancing forces from well thought out positions in back and the Ballistae had taken position as well. But then... they stopped.

A loud command came from the back of the Grineer force and a slumped form staggered forward. Karl stiffened. It was a Scorpion he had met on the Grineer ship, the one with legs! She was unarmed and in chains! He saw Vor wave a hand and the Scorpion struggled forward. Karl could see her armor was rent and torn. She had _holes_ in her armor. As if something had blown completely through her. She paused and looked back and Vor snapped something, an oddly shaped pistol in hand. The Scorpion nodded weakly and made for the cave entrance.

Karl shook his head slowly. There were too many. He would never make it to the panel. He pulled the dojo key from his pouch and scrutinized it. Yes, it should work...

"You..." The soft, weak voice had Karl raising his weapon, but the Scorpion had stopped just short of the cave. "Why didn't you _kill_ me?" She demanded, angry. "Do it!" She said sharply. "_Do it!_" She screamed when he lowered his Latron Prime. "Damn you, do it!" She begged. "How much do you hate me, Tenno? How many _more_ tortures will you let them inflict on me for being different?" She collapsed to her knees, and then to the ground, keening. Karl...froze.

"I don't hate you." Karl's soft voice had the Scorpion looking up, shocked. "You have my pity. You are different and they _punished_ you for that? Threw you away? They have no honor."

"You don't need to tell me that." The Scorpion said heavily. "I am different. It is enough. Just... kill me... please..." She begged. "It hurts... I... _Please._" For a Grineer female to _beg _like that...

"Can you get in the cave?" Karl asked slowly.

"Why?" She asked weakly, her energy spent.

"Because if you don't you will be buried with the others." Karl said softly.

"You..." She stared at him, her posture shocked. "No! I have to obey... I... Trap..." She said weakly. "No! Have to.. warn..." Karl stared at her.

"You would spend the last vestiges of your life..." Karl said slowly. "To warn people who have tortured you? Who can and will throw you away without thinking?" He asked, curious.

"I have my duty." The Scorpion said sadly. "All the wishes in the universe won't change that."

"No." Karl agreed. "They won't. But I will. Do you surrender?" HE asked quietly. The Scorpion stared at him, confused and he pressed. "Do you surrender?"

"I want to live." The Scorpion said sadly. "But I am dead."

"So am I." Karl said with a faint trace of humor. "Hasn't stopped me yet. There is a better way." The Scorpion stared at him, her posture unsure. "Surrender and I will show it to you." A shot landed near the slumped Scorpion, urging her on.

"I..." The Grineer said softly. "I don't know..."

"Choose quickly, Grineer." Karl said urgently. "They will not miss again. My name is Karl. You owe them nothing."

"Cora." The Scorpion said and then slumped as Karl recoiled. "I owe them nothing. I surrender. Help?" She begged.

"I will."

The Rhino slung his rifle, activated his Iron Skin and ran from the cave. Shouts came and shots, but none staggered him as he darted to the fallen Scorpion's side. She screamed as he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the cave. He was halfway back when _something_ slammed into his side with enough force to knock him down, even with his Iron Skin active. He looked and there was neat _hole_ in his torso armor. Explosions started around him as the Bombards and Napalms got the range and he snarled under his breath as he slid back into the cave's cover, dragging his limp prisoner. She had taken hits, but still breathed.

"Get them!" Vor's voice shouted over the din of weapon's fire. "Charge!"

Karl pulled the key from his pocket and toggled the detonation sequence. The battle cries that had been approaching turned to screams as a rumbling series of explosions began outside. They started in the distance and quickly came closer. Closer and closer. Finally one sounded right overhead and Karl had a bare second to hear the Grineer Scorpion scream as the cave mouth collapsed. Then everything was still.


	17. Chapter 17

**Honorable Choices**

"That won't have killed Captain Vor. Explosions, landslides, swords, guns... Nothing seems to stop him." The voice of the Grineer female -Cora- came from the darkness. "Vor is relentless. Now that he knows there is something here, he will have his soldiers dig until they find it."

"He will be delayed a bit." Karl said evenly as he rolled slowly and painfully to his knees. The darkness was absolute but he knew the cave was high enough for him to barely be reach the ceiling with his Orthos if he stretched.. "Those charges ran the length of the canyon. Even the mighty Vor will have difficulty digging himself out."

"Nice." Cora said with a grin in her voice. But then it faltered. "Are we trapped?"

"No." Karl said as he activated his helmet light. It showed she hadn't moved from where she had fallen. The Grineer Scorpion lay on her side, the chains at her wrist and ankles evident. "The problem is, I don't know if I can trust you."

"I know." Cora said sadly. "Grineer as whole don't go for the whole 'trusting' thing. Like I said, I am different."

"How so?" Karl asked as he eased himself into a sitting position. It hurt. He checked his armor systems and they showed the hole went completely through him. Just like the holes in Cora's armor, come to think of it. But his warframe was healing him as he watched so he ignored the injury and the pain.

"I am an experiment." Cora said heavily. "Tyl Regor's experiment. Do you know of his work?"

"I do." Karl said flatly. "He is attempting to under the damage of centuries of cloning."

"Yes." Cora said softly. "Admirable, I guess. But his methods are..." She swallowed. "I shouldn't speak ill of him, maybe, he created me. But we were things to him."

"We?" Karl asked. "How many?"

"Two hundred in the batch I was decanted with." Cora replied softly. "All from the same template. An ancient human female that was found frozen in ice on Earth. She had been there a long time, thousands of years." Karl looked at her and Cora shrugged. "I asked. No one knows _how_ she got there, or why, but she died of exposure. No signs of violence on her. I..." She paused and gulped. "Sorry. I babble when I am scared."

"You surrendered. As long as you offer no violence, you have no reason to fear me, Cora. " Karl asked slowly. " How old are you, Cora?"

"I will be two years old next week." Cora said softly. "If I live that long. Why?"

"You say you are different?" Karl asked slowly. "How so?"

"Well..." Cora sighed. "Most of the differences are internal. We have no rank. Hence the lack of prosthesis." She patted her leg. "We were supposed to be brood mothers, living incubators for a new generation of Grineer. It...didn't go as Regor planned."

"I didn't think Grineer had names." Karl asked, thinking hard.

"We do." Cora replied. "But with so many clones... It gets confusing. So most use numbers. I don't know who named me Cora, or even if it was a name and not an acronym of some kind. My next nearest sister was Dora, then Eora." She nodded and Karl jerked. "Yeah, I think whoever it was had no imagination." Karl couldn't help it, he chuckled at her wry tone. She paused. "That looks like it hurts." She waved her chained hands at him and he looked down at the weeping hole in his warframe.

"Pain and I are old friends, Cora." Karl said with a nod. "You?" He asked, scrutinizing the rents and holes in her armor. She nodded.

"The training they gave us when Regor dropped us was brutal." Cora said with a gulp. "But I survived even though many of my sisters did not."

"He 'dropped you'?" Karl asked cautiously.

"We were supposed to be brood mothers for a new generation of Grineer." Cora said with a swallow. "And we were all sterile. He dissected several of us to figure out why. I don't think he ever did."

"You have my condolences." Karl said with a sigh, only to pause as Cora snarled.

"I didn't _want_ to spend my life on my back or in some tank, popping out tiny Grineer, thank you very much! The very _idea_ made me sick, but I had no choice. Then we got shipped off as cannon fodder." Cora said and then gasped as she tried to sit up and couldn't. "Ow..." She said weakly.

"How bad?" Karl asked as he stood up slowly.

"Suit telemetry is off line." Cora said with a sigh. "Can't tell. Too much damage."

"I may be able to help." Karl said quietly. "But I need to touch you."

"Either you help or you kill me." Cora said with a groan. "Either way the pain should stop. Come ahead." She lay back, her arms eased to the side. Karl checked the damage quickly and professionally with his warframe's sensors and then careful fingers. Cora's injuries were...calculated in their brutality. None of them, even the deepest ones, would kill her any time soon. All had to be painful. Karl sat back on his heels and looked at Cora who didn't move. "What?" She asked.

"You need more care than I can provide." Karl said flatly. "Your injuries will kill you in time. Slowly and painfully." Cora nodded. "That was intended?"

"I escaped the ship." Cora said softly. "They assumed I ran away at the first sign of fighting. The penalty for cowardice is...clear. Pain, then a degrading death. Vor was going to have me staked out to die slowly of thirst or starvation, but when his scouts found signs of Tenno, he decided to use me as a living land mine finder."

"Don't you have recorders on your armor?" Karl asked, incredulous.

"Why waste valuable tech on cannon fodder?" Cora asked snidely. She sighed. "No. My word alone was worthless."

"Well, Cora..." Karl said softly. "I can help you, take you somewhere you can be healed. But..." Cora tensed as he continued. "There are tracking devices in your armor. I cannot take you there while you are wearing it."

"Take off...my armor?" Cora said, her tone hesitant. "I... I don't know..."

"Cora." Karl pitched his voice to gentle tones. "As soon as I leave, a powerful explosion will seal this cave behind me. If your armor is here, and the Grineer soldiers digging find bits of it...What will they assume?"

"That I am dead." Cora said, her voice stunned. "No Grineer would ever remove his or her armor short of death. I..." She bowed her head and then her hands came up to her helmet. The thin metal covering fell away around her face. She gasped as she tried to reach for other fasteners, the act hurt her. "I... I can't..." She said, cared. "Leave me."

"Will you accept my help?" Karl asked softy. Cora stared at him. "If you take your armor off, I have something that will knock you out, let you sleep while I carry you where I plan to go. I can help you."

"Why?" Cora asked, confused. "Why help me? Why save me from Vor and the others? I... I am nothing... We are enemies."

"Are we?" Karl asked quietly. "You said you owe the Grineer nothing. Were you mistaken?"

"I have begged and pleaded for a way out." Cora said slowly, as if not quite believing this was happening. "But without this armor... I am nothing."

"Not true." Karl said gently. She froze as he reached out to touch her forehead with a metal clad finger. "What resides in there is far more than some lump of metal. I barely met you and I can tell."

"I am scared." Cora said softly as he backed off.

"I know." Karl agreed. "Fear is not a bad thing, Cora. It is a self preservation mechanism. But will you be ruled by your fear? Or rule _it_?"

Cora stared at him and then jerked. She grabbed her left gauntlet with her right hand and pulled. It came off quickly and the hand that appeared underneath was pasty white. She stared at it as if she had never seen it before. Maybe she hadn't. She pulled the other gauntlet off and it too showed pale white skin.

"Why is my skin so white?" Cora asked, concerned. "It wasn't, even when I was first decanted. Wrinkled, yes. White, no."

"You haven't taken the armor off since you put it on, have you?" Karl asked. Cora shook her head. "Lack of light. Human skin requires a certain amount of radiation to stay healthy. And you are baseline human, Cora. The Grineer evolved from humans, just like Tenno."

"Do _you_ have this...?" Cora asked softly, still staring at her hand.

"No." Karl said quietly. "Warframes are designed to keep the wearer healthy. Completely healthy, including skin."

"And wounds?" Cora asked, staring at the hole on the Rhino's upper left chest. "That _had_ to hit your lung..."

"It did." Karl agreed. Cora jerked and then sighed. "The rest?" He indicated the rest of her body armor.

"I don't know if I can." Cora said sadly. "Between the chains and the pain... I..." She slumped. "Maybe you should leave me."

"I am not going to leave you to die without a lot more reason than that." Karl said with a snap. "I am not in the habit of killing unarmed prisoners. That said, I _can_ get you out of your armor. But you have to trust me."

"_Trust_ you?" Cora snapped right back. "Yeah, right..." She gasped and froze as Karl moved. He rose and his Orthos came down. Once, twice, it sliced. A metallic 'cling' was heard each time and when Cora stared down, her shackles fell off. Her manacles had been cut cleanly away from her and there was not a mark on her armor. "I..." She stammered. "I..."

"Close your eyes and don't move." Karl said calmly. Cora jerked and then nodded, leaning back, her arms falling to her sides. Karl focused himself and then he began to cut.

Each stroke fell with every ounce of his will and power behind it. Each blow, perfectly focused, perfectly timed and falling in sequence. Horizontal strike, vertical strike, crosscut. Each cut of the surgically sharp blades precisely deep enough to cleave the armor, but not touch the skin underneath. Karl had fought a lot of Grineer, and Scorpion armor was lighter than most. In less than a minute, he stepped back.

"You can open your eyes, Cora." Karl said gently as he sheathed his polearm. Cora's eyes cracked open. She stared up at him, then down at herself and gasped. Her armor lay on her still, scored deeply with lines. As she moved, pieces fell off. Karl nodded at her dumbfounded expression. "There you go."

"How did you _do_ that?" Cora asked, her eyes wide as she brushed pieces of her insanely hard body armor off her person. She sat up, pieces of metal and plastic scattering. "There was _no_ way..." She examined her body, but not a single piece of her pale skin showed a wound that hadn't been there before. "If I didn't see it with my own eyes... I would have said that was impossible." She said, dazed. "What _are_ you?"

"I am Tenno. My teachers always said 'Nothing is impossible'." Karl replied with calm assurance. "Improbable? Yes. Insanely hard? Yes. Impossible? No. And as for how I did it? I have practiced with this weapon for a long, long time, Cora." She shivered and he paused. "Are you all right?"

"Cold." Cora said, hugging herself. Karl kicked himself. Of course, she hadn't been wearing anything under her armor.

"Okay." Karl said soberly. "I am going to raise my hand, Cora. A green mist will come out of it. Take a deep breath and you will go to sleep."

"You are not going to digitize me or whatever you Tenno do to take captives?" Cora asked softly, still scared. "I have heard stories..."

"No." Karl said simply. "An anesthetic gas. If you breathe it, it will put you to sleep. That is to keep you from seeing how I go and where I go. There are things you cannot know. Things you seriously do _not_ want to know. And it will likely hurt, being carried. If you sleep through it... So much the better."

"You could have killed me on the ship." Cora said softly. "You didn't. You could have left me in the canyon, to be shot or buried alive. You didn't. You could have left me here. You didn't. I don't... I don't understand. Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I knew a girl named Cora once." Karl said softly. "I failed her. She died because of me."

"I am not the girl you knew." Cora said, baffled.

"No." Karl agreed. "But you are hurt and alone. That demands I assist if I can. You are not my enemy, Cora."

"And I don't _want_ to be." Cora agreed fervently. "Green mist?" She asked. He nodded and she shook herself. "Okay."

Karl raised his hand and the anesthetic mist flowed around Cora. She gasped and then she relaxed into sleep. He picked the sleeping female up carefully and held her while one hand dipped down to pull the dojo key out again. He keyed it and a portal snapped to life a few meters away. As he walked to it, he hit another key and a red light started flashing on the wall nearby. A timer, counting down. He nodded as he stepped through the portal, taking Cora away. The blast would leave nothing for the Grineer but fragments and questions. Then, he was gone.

Seconds after he vanished, the portal winked out. Seconds after that, the sizable explosive device that had been planted in the cave wall uncounted ages ago by Karl and his clan detonated, bringing the roof of the cave down on the fragments of Cora' s armor and demolishing the few pieces of Orokin tech that had made up the portal.


	18. Chapter 18

**Home**

Karl hadn't really been sure WHAT to expect when he exited the portal with the slumbering Grineer in his arms. But what greeted him was a surprise. A human woman wearing an odd head adornment was waiting at the exit. It was not quite a turban, but close. Some of the human remnant colonies still had such headgear, usually for specific occasions. Her face was serene and her voice was quiet and modulated.

"You are not the master." She said in a calm voice. There was something not right about it. "But you bear the master's key. Who are you?"

"Nicholas is dead. I am Karl." The Rhino said flatly, perturbed. What was wrong with this? Why was his skin crawling under his warframe? Something about this woman was raising his hackles. "Who are you?"

"Karl?" The woman said in that same calm, wrong voice. "We have no files for a Karl in this clan."

"Who are you?" Karl said flatly, transferring Cora to his left arm so he could draw a Kunai. "Answer me."

"You bear the key, but are not the master." The woman said, her voice holding confusion. "This... This was not predicted. This one is 'Servant'. This one means no offense, Tenno Karl." She raised empty hands. "This one is not a combat unit. This one is configured to assist in maintaining the dojo."

"What did Nicholas do?" Karl breathed, horrified. "Where did you come from?"

"This one's body was acquired by the clan from her home on Europa." The woman said calmly. "This one was injured. Substantial repairs were required."

"'Acquired'?" Karl queried, even more concerned. "Kidnapped?" He demanded.

"This one's form was taken without cooperation, yes." Servant replied evenly. "You have injuries?" She inquired, looking at Cora's still form and Karl's battered warframe.

"How many others?" Karl said softly. "Nicholas wouldn't have only done this once."

"Totals are unknown." Servant said quietly. "The records of acquired servants are sealed. There are currently four drone units in the facility including this unit."

"Drones?" Karl hadn't thought he could get that stiff and still remain on his feet. "You are a Sentient!" He took aim at the woman, but not at her head. That was never the weak spot on a Sentient drone. The woman, if it _was_ one, raised her empty hands in supplication.

"What is a Sentient? This one does not understand." Servant said slowly. "Has this one given offense? This one did not mean to offend. How may this one correct this one's actions?"

That...wasn't right. Was it? Karl froze in place. He didn't remember everything about the War. His memories of before the war and after being woken from cryo were clear, but during? His hunt of the traitors was fresh in his memory, brought forward by the recent events. He couldn't -quite- remember why the woman's actions were bothering him. But she was not acting hostile. _And_ she wasn't armed. Sentient drones had always been armed. Hadn't they? Dang it, he couldn't remember!

"You have not given offense." Karl said, slowly relaxing. "This has been...a bad day." He said with a sigh. "The clan of Tenno who owned this dojo are all dead. I claim it."

"This one understands." The woman -if she was one- said in that same calm voice. "You are injured? You need medical attention."

"Lead on." Karl said quietly, sheathing his Kunai, but not gripping Cora's still form with that hand, leaving it free. Just in case. "You say there are other drones?" He asked as the odd woman started off and he kept pace easily, trying not to jostle Cora.

"Yes." The woman did not pause in her unhurried steps. "Medic, Smith and Cleaner are the others."

"And they are all like you?" Karl asked, worried.

"Medic is...different." Servant said as she led Karl past a pair of cross corridors that he remembered led to laboratories and an Oracle. "It was the first."

"The first 'acquired' or the first changed?" Karl asked as he followed towards where he remembered the medical wards being built. Cora had been so proud of her medical wards. She had worn an Ember warframe, but she had been the clan's medical person. A kind hearted soul with a streak of steel underneath, she had been...exceptional. He pushed the memories aside. This was worrisome. What had Nicholas and his renegades done?

"The...first..." Servant seemed to pause but then continued. "Medic was the first."

"You did not answer my question." Karl said with a snap, his free hand going to his Kunai.

"She cannot." A new voice intruded, a mechanical one. Karl stopped short as a large...thing appeared in front of them. In form it was a wheeled gurney. But at it's head... a man's torso and head were visible. It wasn't attached to the gurney, no. It was mounted on some kind of tracked contrivance. It was pushing the gurney. "It is not Servant's fault, Tenno Karl. She was very hurt."

"Medic, I presume." Karl said with a nod, not moving.

"The same." Medic said with a wave. The man's arms were still attached, but other appendages -mechanical ones- were also visible, moving around the gurney. "You are injured as is the female."

"What did Nicholas do?" Karl demanded. "Do you know?"

"He saved my life." The half man, half robot thing said softly. "Not that I thanked him for it. I was... his first experiment. His loyal medical person when Cora fled. She did what she could for me, but I was beyond any normal healing. What Master did when she left was not healing."

"Cora did this?" Karl asked slowly. "What happened?"

"I remember you, Tenno Karl." The man within the shell said softly. "Do you remember me?" Karl looked at him and the man made a mechanical sounding sigh. "I did not know what I was doing. I did not know what Tenno were. But you defended us, and were hurt. My little sister and I found you." Karl felt himself freeze.

"Jimmy?" Karl asked, beyond horror now. The little boy that had found him, after he had fought Sentients on Ceres? Who, with his sister had nursed Karl back to life after Karl had been badly hurt? "I saw you. Nicholas _killed_ you! You were _dead!_ Frozen solid."

"I do not fully remember. I remember cold and fear. I was partially sheltered from the cold by my parent's bodies. Cora revived me." The mechanical form said quietly. "But she could not save my body. She hid me from Nicholas and tried to protect me. But his madness grew. So she left, thinking she had ended my pain. But Nicholas found me before life had fled. He made me what I am. What you see before you."

"No..." Karl shook his head. "I..." He bowed his head. "This is wrong, I will end this." He raised the Kunai, but paused as the mechanical monstrosity shook its head.

"Tenno Karl, wait." Medic said softly. "I do not like my life, but I am needed. I have a duty. A purpose. This is not what I wanted as a child, but I do find solace in helping others."

"You always did, Jimmy." Karl said sadly. "I..." He shook his head again. "This is wrong. How do I know this is not Nicholas programming you to serve?"

"I am no longer human. My name is Medic. I slept in the dojo with the other servants until the Master woke me." The mechanical form said with quiet authority. "And as for the Master? He did not know how to program loyalty when he made me. He never...quite managed to get it right."

"And the others?" Karl said, waving his throwing knife at Servant who stood motionless.

"Nicholas' Tenno sought out converts. None came. All knew he was rogue." Medic said with a nod. "He found... alternate means of recruiting who he wanted."

"Kidnapping." Karl said flatly. "Did he resort to brainwashing?" He demanded.

"Yes. He tried to break their wills and wound up breaking their bodies. When he broke them..." Medic said with a calm that held horror underneath. "And he always did... He brought them to me. To repair. But...the damage was done. Servant will never be who she was. None of the others either. Their memories are gone. Perhaps that is a mercy. One I am denied."

"Did she have a family?" Karl demanded. "Did any of them?"

"No." Medic replied. "In that at least, the Master was merciful. He only took orphans or people who had lost their families. He may have thought to give them one."

"Or he may have found them easy targets." Karl said sourly. "His name was Nicholas. I don't care if what he wanted you to call him. He is dead. I have the key."

"The key..." Medic said slowly. "You will take control? Assume responsibility?" The cyborg sounded distressed.

"Why does that bother you?" Karl asked, still not moving.

"This...form... is monstrous." Medic said slowly. "But I can help. The others need me. If I am free to choose my own way..." The head of the cyborg looked away for a moment and then back. "No, I must serve."

"Why?" Karl asked, not taking his eyes from the machine, or the motionless human female looking thing that stood nearby.

"Because if I have no direction..." Medic replied slowly. "I will go crazy and kill myself or others. I _do_ want to help. I like helping..." His voice was suddenly more human, younger.

"You always did, Jimmy." Karl said softly. "And that _is_ your name, not 'Medic'."

"The Master of the dojo may set whatever name he wishes for me..." The cyborg started to say, but broke off when Karl made a sharp gesture with the throwing knife in hand.

"Your name was James Kouantroas." Karl said softly. The machine jerked a bit, but paused. "You were human. You had a life, and a family. My brother took all that from you." Karl shook his head, saddened. "I don't think I can give back what my brother took."

"You cannot, Tenno Karl." The half man, half machine said with equal sadness. "I have lost much, but I do have purpose." He started working on the gurney. "The female's life signs are fading. She needs help. Lay her down and I will aid her." Karl did as instructed and the cyborg's multiple arms started to move around Cora's still form. Karl stepped back, his Kunai still in hand.

"If you want an end..." Karl said slowly. "...you have but to ask. I will make it quick, clean and painless."

"You..." Medic paused, shocked. "You would give me that? If I ask?" Karl nodded, silent and Medic slumped a bit. "I...am needed. For now. I will remember your offer. What do you wish done with this female? She is not Tenno, nor human..."

"She is a Grineer." Karl said quietly. Medic paused and Karl continued. "She surrendered to me. For now, she is my prisoner. Heal her wounds, but do nothing else."

"She is...unlike any we have files for." The cyborg medic said quietly. "This will take some time, as we have to scan her thoroughly, find out how she is different. But her life is no longer in danger. Should she be restrained?" Medic asked softly.

"No." Karl said simply. "Where would she go? The only access to or from the dojo is via key. And the only remaining operational key is in my possession. Keyed to my DNA." He shrugged. "Luc and Lis' keys may still exist, but each clan member's key was gene locked to their specific Tenno. Neither of them can ever leave their prison and the others are all dead."

"I see." Medic replied. "Orders then?"

"_You_ are the medic here." Karl said firmly. "What do you suggest?"

"I...suggest..." Medic seemed uncertain, but his voice grew in strength and confidence as Karl did not interrupt. "That we take her to medical and put her on basic support. She is obviously strong to survive these injuries. But fluids and nutrients cannot hurt. We will need to scan her body, do some tests."

"Don't assume anything." Karl cautioned the medic. "Grineer are different and this one is different from baseline Grineer."

"We will be cautious." Medic replied. "She will need a great deal of rest to recuperate from her injuries. Should we keep her asleep?"

"Probably for the best." Karl said uneasily. "No surgery without clearing it with me first." He snapped as Medic started to wheel the gurney away. Medic nodded, but did not reply, it's focus was on it's patient. Only when the cyborg and gurney were gone did Karl turn to Servant. "You do not remember who you were before. Do you?"

"No." Servant said calmly.

"Where do your memories start?" Karl asked, his voice turning kind.

"This one woke in the medical ward." Servant replied in that same calm voice. "This one's body was damaged. Repairs had been made."

"Show me your head." Karl said quietly. Servant raised her hands to her turban but froze. "Servant?"

"This one was ordered never to show it's head. It would disturb the other Tenno." The human looking woman said, her voice turning uncertain. "This one has never taken off it's head covering."

"Never?" Karl said, stiffening. "How long have you been here, Servant?" The female looking being's eyes went far away and she did not move for a moment. "Servant?"

"Unknown." Servant replied, a hint of unease finally seeping into her tone.

"Can _I_ take it off?" Karl asked softly. Servant looked at him and then nodded jerkily. He made a motion and she knelt. A quick examination showed the turban was one solid piece, not a wrap. It wasn't intended to come off, he realized. He sighed. "Don't move." Servant froze in place as Karl started cutting with the Kunai. Throwing blades were meant for piercing, not for cutting. But they were incredibly sharp. Then the wrapping fell off and Karl inhaled in shock at what he found.

The back of the woman's head was...skin. No sign of injuries. She didn't have hair, but there were no mechanical devices. No cyborg bits. But there was... Karl snarled and flicked the knife at the small blinking device that was adhered to the woman's skull near the junction with her spine. It came away, showing a port of some kind. A familiar one that probably led directly to her spine's connection to the brain. She gave a scream and collapsed in a sobbing heap.

"No... No nononono..." The woman sobbed as Karl stepped back.

"How long were you a Sentient thrall?" Karl asked softly, his kunai vanishing and his Latron Prime coming down.

"I don't know." The woman sobbed. "I... He took me... He put... things in me... I was... No..." She begged as Karl raised his rifle. "No!" She screamed, but when he fired, it wasn't at her. Something exploded nearby and Karl lowered his rifle. "What?" She asked through tear streaked eyes.

"Drone. We are in trouble, Ma'am." Karl said softly, remembering. "I have no idea what Nicholas was playing with, bringing Sentient tech in here, but with him gone... It's free. The others? They are bound?"

"I don't know about Medic. I don't think so." The woman said, curling up on the floor. "The others, yes. It was the only way for him to maintain control." She shook her head. "Kill me!"

"No." Karl said quietly. "I need your help. Nicholas may have been mad, but letting Sentient tech loose without some kind of control? No. He wasn't that stupid. There has to be a failsafe somewhere. Probably an EMP device of some kind."

"The key." The cringing woman said with a gulp. "I... I think..." She broke off and gave a scream as a group of flying things appeared, flying towards the pair. Karl nodded, pulled the key out and raised it.

"Stop." He commanded. The flying devices did. "Identify." He said coldly.

"You are not Master." The voice of a Sentient came from one of the drone. "You will serve."

"I command, you obey." Karl snapped right back. He keyed a sequence ont he key, but nothing happened. He ran a quick diagnostic, but no change.

"Key codes no longer valid." The Sentient said with a hint of glee. "All will serve. All will be made better. The Sentience will be reborn."

"Right." Karl said with a sigh. "Broadcast." A hum came from the key and Karl spoke evenly. His voice came from hidden speakers. "Medic, cover Cora. Others... Cover your eyes and duck!" The words were a command. The woman on the floor threw her arms over her head as Karl accessed the dojo's security grid.

He mentally keyed in a sequence that had he personally had programmed into the dojo's systems a long, long time ago and then threw himself down, covering the still crying woman with his armored bulk. He had been in charge of security for awhile and that code had never been changed. After all, since Karl hadn't had _access_ to the dojo, why change it?

A shrill mechanical scream sounded as the world suddenly turned bright. He waited until brightness faded, then rose. Nothing but floating ash remained of the group of Sentient drones. Gamma ray lasers were no joke at all.

"What was _that_?" The woman asked softly, not moving.

"Internal defense system." Karl said with a nod. He had been quite proud of that innovation. It was the main reason he had never bothered to _try_ to get his own dojo key working again. Entering the dojo without permission was a death sentence. "This isn't over, it can and will build more drones. But it will take a while. The feedback from its drones' destruction hurt it. Badly."

"How do you know?" The woman asked, awed. "Even... Even Nicholas didn't understand. He used it, but he didn't understand..." She said faintly.

"Memory coming back?" Karl asked. Sentient tech usually partitioned memory instead of destroying it. One never knew after all, if memories might be useful later and Sentients had always been about efficiency in Karl's experience. "Do you remember your name?"

"My name is Mari, Tenno." The woman said, rising a bit before falling back. "Thank you."

"My name is Karl, Mari." Karl said with a nod. "Pleased to meet you. Let's go. We need to end this." Mari accepted the hand he extended. He lifted her to her feet and she stood easily. "Medical first, to get you some help." Her hand shot to her skull and it came away red. Removing a Sentient thrall device was not easy or clean. He had simply disabled it and removed the receiver/transmitter. She swallowed, but nodded. "Then Engineering."

"Why Engineering?" Mari asked as they started off.

"Sentient control systems need a lot of power." Karl said quietly. "Even if Nicholas wasn't stupid enough to put it in one of the main reactor spaces, it will have moved there. Why did he grab you?"

"I was a roboticist. He promised me a look at new high tech, then I realized it was Sentient tech. I freaked and he hurt me to keep me from calling for help. Then he was coming towards me with that... that thing..." Mari said with a snarl. "Never again. I will not be a thrall again. Can I have a gun?"

"We will get you something." Karl promised. "Family?"

"No." Mari said with a shiver. "All dead."

"Would you like one?" Karl asked. She stared at him and he shrugged."Just asking. Could use you, but only if you are willing."

"Let me think about it." Mari said, her face unsure. "At least _you_ are asking."

"I am not Nicholas." Karl said with a sigh.

"That is obvious." Mari said with a soft, shaky laugh.

"I was born his brother, Mari." Karl said with a snarl. "But I killed him and will erase his evil. I swear it."

"We can't choose our family." Mari said with a nod. "Normally anyway. And I believe you."

"Good." Karl said with a nod. "Because we haven't seen bad yet. Not even close..."


	19. Chapter 19

**Battle with weapons and wits**

Mari was staggering as she and Karl stepped into the small medical ward to find Medic bent over Cora's still form.

"What has happened?" Medic asked without preamble.

"Did Nicholas use Sentient tech in building your form?" Karl asked, his rifle steady. Medic froze. "He used it to control the others. The initial work is easy, but someone with medical skills had to finalize it. Drone implantation is far, far messier."

"I tried to help." Medic said softly. "I didn't want to do those horrible things. If the other Tenno had realized..."

"There would have been open warfare in the halls of the dojo." Karl agreed as he slung his rifle. "We spent too long fighting the Sentients for anything else to happen. Were you involved with what happened to Lis?"

"No." Medic said sadly. "I woke her, carefully. Under close supervision and instruction from the Master. No more. I am glad she got away."

"His _name_ was Nicholas, Jimmy." Karl said with a snap. "He is gone, you can say it."

"I..." Medic shook his head. "I cannot. When I try to say his name or...mine, a feedback loop hurts me." Karl shook his own head, appalled. "Servant?" Medic asked, concerned as the woman stumbled against a table.

"Her name is Mari. I cut off her thrall receiver." Karl corrected the medical cyborg. "Take care of her. I have to go to Engineering."

"You..." Mari gasped as she fell. "You were kind, but..." She recoiled as Medic approached. "No! Stay away!"

"I will not harm you, Mari." Medic said, bowing his head. "I have hurt you enough."

"Karl!" Mari begged. "Don't let them take me again!"

"I won't." Karl said quietly. "But you need help, Mari. You are bleeding." Mari clasped a hand to the back of her skull and then she slumped. Karl walked to a locker nearby and nodded. "Ah, here we go." He pulled a Lato from the locker and walked back to Mari who stared at him as he held the pistol out to her butt first. "Have you ever handled a weapon?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Never... never needed one." The shaking woman said, staring at the gun. "A gun? In a medical ward?"

"Cora was just as paranoid as the rest of us." Karl said sadly. "Didn't save her in the end, but she was. Trigger..." He pointed the activation lever out to her with his free hand. "Safety." He pointed that out to her. He held it out to her again and she took it in shaking hands.

"Is that wise, Tenno Karl?" Medic asked, not moving as she aimed the gun at the cyborg. "She is badly traumatized."

"She needs some security." Karl said quietly. "I am going to call you Jimmy, even if you can't. Mari..." He paused as she pointed the gun at her own head. "Don't."

"What is happening to me?" Mari demanded. "I feel... strange..."

"You were a Sentient thrall, Mari." Karl said kindly. "It's okay. Relax. It will be okay." The weapon clicked and Karl sighed. "Safety, Mari." He said sourly. He grabbed the weapon from her hand before she could even move, clicked the safety off and held it back out to her! "If you want to die, I have no right to say 'no' to you, but then, Nicholas and that Sentient controller _win_. Is that what you want?" He asked his tone moderating.

"I don't know." Mari said, staring at the pistol. Then she focused on Karl and her expression hardened. "No." She rose on her own and laid down on her stomach on an the exam table nearby. She ignored the pistol Karl still held. "I trust you. You trust him?" She indicated the still cyborg with a wave.

"No." Karl said with a nod. "I don't know him. I knew the boy who became him, but that was a long time ago. And Sentients were well known for hacking machinery of all kinds."

"Use the key." Medic said softly. "Command me to help her."

"Jimmy..." Karl said with a sigh. "You are a free individual. Not a slave. I refuse to treat you as one. It is not honorable."

"The longer you are here, the more power the Sentient controller will draw." Medic said flatly as he rolled his chassis up to the table that Mari was lying on. His hands were gentle as he examined her neck. "Easy, Mari..." He said quietly.

"You were always apologizing." Mari said, her voice slurring as Medic cursed. "I... I forgive you..." She slumped to the table, still.

"No." Medic said, backing way. "No... I... No..."

"She is not dead, Jimmy." Karl said softly. "Not yet. Neurological stasis. An escape prevention system. Help her." Karl had a lot of experience with Sentient technology. Too much. The cyborg rolled back up and started scanning. Then its hands were a blur, moving almost faster than even Tenno eyes could follow. "Cora?" he asked, looking to where the Grineer female lay, her body coated with organic bandages.

"Stable and sleeping. Her injuries are regenerating well." Medic said with a nod. "Go. I have this." The cyborg's voice was assured now.

"If you have lied to me, I will make sure you live eternally in that form." Karl promised as he strode form the medical ward, ignoring the cyborg's shiver of dread. "Now... If I were a Sentient drone controller... Where would I be...?"

He started off towards the Engineering section. As he walked, he checked his weapon. The Latron Prime was in perfect condition, only one shot fired from the clip. His kunai, likewise. The Orthos was ready as well. He was as ready as he was going to be. This was truly going to suck.

At least it wasn't a _real_ Sentient. Not even Nicholas would have been _that_ stupid. If that had been the case, Karl likely wouldn't have a chance. He would already be dead. Or worse. The few times Tenno had fought Sentients face to face, the odds had been heavily in the Sentient's favor. Karl did not know where the Sentients had come from. He didn't think any Tenno knew. He had heard speculation that they were extrasolar, from outside the solar system. He didn't know. What he _did_ know what that they were insanely hard to hit or hurt. And _they_ hit like a ton of bricks. Their controllers on the other hand...

He had faced Sentient drone controllers quite a bit. They had been _everywhere_ during the war. Sentient drones were very similar to the Sentinels that many Tenno used for backup. He wasn't sure if the Sentinels were reverse engineered Sentient tech or if there was another source for them. It didn't really matter. Most of the Sentient drones that he had seen looked a lot like a cross between the Wyrm Sentinel and the Shade Sentinel. Almost all had cloaking systems that were good enough to hide themselves from most forms of sensors. They were fast and heavily armed for their size. And they were autonomous. They could go _anywhere_ they could fit. Add to that the ability to...subvert people and it became downright _nasty_. He was relatively safe from that in his warframe, but not totally. He had seen other Tenno who had been taken over by the controllers. He had been forced to fight them on occasion. It had never been easy. Sentients were anything but stupid and their tools were just as bad.

He dodged to the side as laser fire sought him. His rifle came up, but... It wasn't a drone. A human female wearing a Tenno style robe was marching towards him, the Supra in her hands bucking as her fire tried to follow him. She wasn't armored. Karl sighed and activated his armor. Laser fire sparked off his shields as he marched to meet her. She kept firing, spraying laser fire everywhere. His shields were moment from failing when he reached the range he wanted and fired a careful shot. The Supra stopped firing, the shot from Karl's Latron Prime having smashed the cooling mechanism. It shut down. The female human did not pause, she raised the laser machine gun to club him with. He let her hit him. It did nothing to him and her momentum threw her to the side, giving him the access he wanted. His Latron slung and his Orthos in hand, a quick careful blow from the haft threw her to the floor. She rolled, but his boot pinned her on her stomach. A slice and her head covering fell off. Another blinking device shone. He flicked it off her neck and she convulsed beneath his boot. But he had no time to wait. He started off as she curled into a ball and sobbed. If he won, he would come back for her. If not? It didn't matter. She was out of the fight for the moment.

He was at the entrance to Engineering when he saw another human. The male was laying explosives. Directional mines. Karl shook his head and fired. The shot tore through the air, slamming into the human's leg and throwing him to the floor. The man didn't even pause, still working to lay the mines with a gaping hole in his leg. Karl shook his head and continued striding forward. The man didn't look up as Karl's Orthos cut the head covering off. Another flick and the man went down, sobbing. The controller was trying to delay him. No drones. Was that good? Or bad? Karl eased the sobbing man aside with his boot and opened the main hatch to engineering. What met the Rhino's eyes had even the battle hardened Tenno warrior pausing.

The thing in front of him had been human once. Then it had been subsumed. He could still see the outline of a human body on the gray scaled thing. It writhed in the flow of energy from both close reactors. There were four in total, arrayed around the corridor that made up Engineering.

"Tenno." The Controller said in a frighteningly human voice. It was neither male not female. "Your lasers will not work again. We have their power source." Karl did not respond, just stepped forward, and the controller snarled. "You will serve or die!"

_Now_ drones appeared, all around him. They wasted no time, but opened fire. Each of them had the power of a Dera rifle. Not that powerful, as things went. But there a _lot_ of them. He had faced them before, many times, so he knew what to do. Standing in place or walking was a death sentence. Instead, he dashed. His arms to the side, he caught several drones by surprise and smashed them to dust as he ran. Then he was in their midst and about halfway to the controller. A stupendous fist slammed into the ground and at least half the drones were caught in the shockwave from the impact. None of them could withstand such power and shattered like glass.

"You break my tools." The Controller said sharply. "You will pay."

Karl's shields were dropping like the water level from a burst dam and he had bare moments. He could see more drones appearing as the Controller formed them from the power it was drawing. It could keep this up all day. He couldn't. Was he close enough? He hoped so.

"Systems!" He said sharply. "Sentient incursion! Level Red." A panel nearby started to glow red. The clan's paranoia had run _very_ deep. With reason. The red lights blinked faster, the EMP charge that it was connected to arming.

"What are you-...?" The controller asked and then it screamed. "_No! You cannot!_" The drone fire intensified and Karl's shield failed, now lasers sparked off his armor. He had moments.

"Die, you unholy piece of crap!" Karl snapped as he slapped the panel. But... Nothing happened. He hit it again. "No..." He breathed. Then he collapsed in pain as the lasers seared through his armor and into his flesh, peppering it in numerous places.

"You lose, Tenno." The Controller said smugly. "We have control! You are..." Whatever it was _going_ to say was cut off by the sound of a rifle. Karl looked and Cora stood there, a Vulkar sniper rifle in hand. She only wore a patient gown, but the rifle was steady. The shot hadn't seemed to do any damage. The Controller made a 'Tsk' noise. "You will all serve." The Controller declared as Karl struggled to rise.

"Not today." Cora said evenly. She freed again, this time, the high powered round hit the Controller mid section. Cora snarled. "Where is the weak spot on this thing?" She demanded as the bullet did nothing. The drone started flitting towards her and she fired, hitting one. An impressive display of marksmanship.

"It doesn't have one! Regenerates as fast as it is damaged!" Karl called back. He hit the panel again. This time a slot appeared on the side and Karl reached in to grab what was inside.

"Wonderful!" Cora snarled as she reloaded. "Any ideas?"

"Yes. Cora! Get down and shield your face!" Karl yelled as he twisted the EMP charge's manual trigger.

Red hot fury exploded in every nerve of Karl's body as the EMP charge detonated. The controller did not even have time to scream as electromagnetic radiation scoured it's mechanical systems, wiping it's form's controlling programs from existence. Karl felt his body convulse, felt every nuance that made up his connection to his warframe suddenly overload. It was beyond excruciating.

"Karl?" The soft, scared voice sounded at the edge of Karl's awareness. "Come on, Karl You can't die on me. Not after all of that." Karl looked up into the face of a Grineer. Cora's face was burned by the radiation, but her eyes were clear. She nodded as she saw his head turn to look at her and smiled. "Dang, don't scare me like that, you crazy Tenno." Karl looked at the rifle in her hand and she flushed. "I found this in a locker..."

"It's not paranoia when they _are_ all out to get us." Karl said with a sigh. "Contingency planning." He looked at her. "You could shoot me."

"I _could_." Cora agreed as she lowered the rifle to the floor. "But it wouldn't be honorable." He stared at her and she grinned. "Besides, I have _no_ idea where I am. And I bet I would be stuck here."

"Honor and pragmatism." Karl said as he rolled slowly to a sitting position. Cora did not offer to help. She understood. "You are well on your Way."

"I am?" Cora asked, uncertain. "I didn't think..." She broke off as Karl laid a huge hand on her shoulder.

"And that is why you did well, Cora." Karl said quietly. "You did not think. You did not quibble. You did not fear. You acted. When did you wake?"

"When you came in." Cora admitted, her face darkening. "As soon as you left, I ran out, Medic was working on that woman, Mari. I found the rifle..." She swallowed. "I hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" Karl asked, incredulous. "Cora, you saved my life." He said with a shake of his head. "If you want to leave, you can. I will take you wherever you wish." Cora stared at him, her eyes wide.

"Can I stay instead?" Cora asked slowly. "I don't want to be cannon fodder and that was all I knew. I want to learn. There is so much to learn. So much I never had any inkling of."

"You can stay, Cora." Karl said, rising to his feet. Even in his warframe, he was barely taller than she was, if far more massive. He strode to where the Controller had been, then slammed his boot to the ground, leaving a dent in the metal floor. "And... done."

"It wasn't dead?" Cora asked, scared.

"It was never alive, Cora." Karl corrected her. "But yes, the CPU is destroyed. The core was shielded from EMP, but the designers never planned on it being stepped on outside of it's protective shell."

"Where did it come from?" Cora asked, gathering the rifle up and rising. "And will we see those again?"

"In order..." Karl said quietly as he stood, taking stock. The reactor systems had rebooted. Everything seemed normal, but he would have to check. Or get someone more mechanically minded to check. "We don't know and I hope not."

"No one knows where those came from?" Cora asked, hugging the rifle to herself.

"No one has said that I know of." Karl said with a shrug. "Not that they tell me everything. Sometimes I feel like a mushroom."

"A mushroom?" Cora asked with a trace of foreboding.

"Yeah." Karl said sourly. "Kept in the dark and fed manure."

"You too?" Cora laughed delightedly "I like that one. The High Command always kept us in the dark and fed us BS too." She sobered. "What now?

"Now we clean up the mess." Karl said softly. "And count the cost." Cora nodded her face serious. "But, while we do, I want you to think on something." She looked at him. "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" She stared at him and he nodded. "Think about it for a while. Just think." He said when she would have spoken. "We have a lot of cleaning to do..." He said as he looked at the detritus of destroyed drones that were scattered _everywhere_.

"What do I call you?" Cora asked after a moment. "Master?"

"No." Karl smiled under his helmet. "Call me 'Sensei'. Teacher."


	20. Chapter 20

**Aftermaths**

It had only been two days since the Sentient Controller had been defeated, but the time had been packed. Getting an 'request' for a visit from a representative of the Tenno Elders had been worrisome. All the way until Karl had seen the airlock open and the black Banshee he had met before had stepped out. He wore robes instead of a warframe. He was on his turf. She was very polite. Having a gamma ray laser emitter tracking her at all times was a _very_ hinted point that politeness was wise. He had greeted her quietly and politely and was now giving her a tour.

"You have done well." The voice of the Tenno known as Two was calm as she looked around the Great Hall of Karl's dojo. "But what is that?" She waved a hand at a gaudy thing that sat against one wall. Karl shook his head an sighed before responding.

"Apparently, Nicholas thought he needed a throne." Karl said with a shrug. Two turned her head to stare at the other Tenno and even through her sealed helmet her disbelief was clear. "Yeah, that is about what we said." Karl snorted. "Especially when we found out it is made of pure platinum."

"_Platinum?_" Two demanded, staring at the thing. It was huge. And yes, it did look vaguely throne-like. "That has to weigh a ton..." Two said in disbelief, her black Banshee warframe shuddering as she tried to control her shock.

"Probably more." Karl agreed. "We haven't been able to weigh it. We tried and it broke the scale we used." He said with a laugh.

"Are you sure it is solid?" Two asked, worried. "Wouldn't be the first time Sentients have hidden in a hunk of metal." She winced in memory. Karl shared her wince.

"It's solid." Karl reassured her. "I hit it four times with a Fragor to be sure." Two turned to look at him and he shrugged. "We also drilled it and scanned it. No hollows. No hidden compartments. One solid mass of metal apparently from an asteroid. I am going to break it up as soon as we can. I don't need it. The clan will."

"So..." Two turned to face the other Tenno. "You _are_ going to rebuild the clan?"

"Try to." Karl agreed. "What do the Elders want?"

"I am to look around and report to them. Your report scared people, Karl." Two said quietly. "Can you blame them?"

"No." Karl agreed. "We had all hoped the Sentients were gone. But if there was one Controller..." Two nodded soberly.

"There will be more. And maybe worse." Two said with a snarl. "Blasted machines. Any idea where this one came from?"

"Not really." Karl said with a shake of his head. "Nicholas was very cagey about telling people what he had done. With good reason. The other members of his clan were loyal, but there were limits. After all the fighting we did during the war, before Ceres..." Karl shrugged. "Best I can determine from talking to Jimmy and looking at the few medical records, Nicholas started doing all this after Cora fled. My bet is, he would have had the thing enthrall Lis, if given the chance."

"Any idea how she escaped?" Two asked as they walked further.

"No.' Karl said with a grimace. "None of the staff here were capable of giving her a void key. We are pretty sure the Sentient didn't. That leaves the various members of the clan, but why would they help her escape? They didn't know what Nicholas was doing. Indeed, until Lis escaped, most of them were still asleep. Indeed, he only woke them all up when Lis escaped." Two paused and half turned to look at him. "No." He said flatly. "They chose to follow him. They all got the message Cora did. She ran, the others stayed. They were rogue and legitimate targets."

"I wasn't going to object, Karl." Two said quietly. "I can't imagine what you went through. Serene told me..." Karl looked at her and Two barked a laugh. "The whole _clan_ knows Serene is expecting now. I went to talk to her. She told me about the talk you two had. Well, _after_ she yelled at me for being an interfering, busybody witch of a sister. She told me why you never sought contact." She bowed her head. "Thank you."

"For?" Karl asked politely.

"For being a perfect knight." Two said, her voice suspiciously husky. "For protecting Serene the only way you could." Karl nodded. "Do you still love her?" She asked.

"I think part of me always will." Karl said after a minute. "I may not be able to _forget_ what she did, but I did forgive it. She was a part of my life and when she slapped me and stalked away, part of me died. I wonder..." He mused. "Is that why I was so easily entranced by the tower's music? I had embraced Bushido when Master Karina taught it to me."

"You are not samurai, Karl." Two said, softly. Not insulting, curious.

"No." Karl agreed. "Tenno have more in common with shinobi -ninja- than samurai. But that doesn't mean we don't have honor." He paused as a shape appeared nearby. The wheeled chair stopping as soon as it saw him. "Yes, Karen?" He asked.

"We found another, Sensei." The woman in the chair said, worried. "In the maintenance shafts." Her hazel eyes lit on Two, but she did not speak again. She wore a neck brace and her head was bare of either covering or hair.

"That makes five." Karl said sourly. "Did Cora handle it?"

"Yes, Sensei. She smashed it and we deposited the residue in the waste tubes as ordered. They will go out with the next waste flush, which should be any minute." The woman said, bowing her head. None of the rest of her body moved. Two looked at her and then at Karl, the question was obvious.

"We have been finding dormant drones." Karl said sourly. "We probably will for a while. We destroy them when we find them. Mira wanted to dissect one, just to see how they worked. But she didn't press when I said we had all the records we needed." He smiled at the chair bound woman. "Karen? Any better?"

"I felt tingles in my fingers when Medic did his last treatment . That is an improvement." The woman said with a smile. Karl bowed his head and the woman's face turned fierce. "Begging your pardon, Sensei. But stop that." She said sharply. "If you hadn't cut it off, I would have kept fighting until I was dead. I was struggling, moving. Any lesser swordsbeing would have cut me _head_ off."

"I missed my stroke, Karen." Karl said with equal sharpness that turned soft. "I cut too deep when I flicked the receiver off you and I may have paralyzed you for life."

"I _have_ my life, Sensei." Karen replied her tone softening as well. "Apologies, Tenno." She inclined her head to Two who stood bemused. "Sensei is a bit on the morose side at times. We are trying to get him to lighten up." Two choked on a laugh.

"Good luck, Karen is it?" The Banshee asked politely. Karen nodded, her eyes twinkling. "You are going to need it. He has _always_ been that way." Two said fondly. "As a child, I often wondered if they _gave_ him a smile when he was born. He smiles but nearly often enough." Indeed, Karl was scowling at her as she chuckled again. "I rest my case." She said with a grin that was visible even through her sealed helmet.

"Whatever." Karl said with a sigh. "Karen, how is Miguel doing?"

"He hides it well, but his leg is still bothering him." Karen said, uncertain. Karl nodded, his face a mask. "Sensei. It was not your fault." She pleaded.

"I know that, Karen." Karl said with a nod. "But it _is_ my responsibility. I will see about getting more medical personnel. Jimmy is good, but not nearly as experienced as we need. Especially if we get more Tenno and start running missions from here." Karen nodded at the Tenno's words. "Go on, I will see you at third meal." Karen looked at him and he glowered at her. "Go." He commanded.

"As long as it's not broth, Sensei..." Karen said in a monotone as she turned her chair to leave. "I am _sick_ of broth." Then she was gone.

"One of Nicholas' slaves?" Two asked when the girl had wheeled her chair out of the hall.

"Yeah." Karl said with a sigh as he started off again, Two matching his pace. "I disabled her, but like I said, I cut too deep. I hit her spine."

"And like _she_ said, if she was moving, she is lucky you didn't take her head off." Two said sourly. "But no, with you it is either perfection or garbage. Nice chair." She said with a nod toward where Karen had vanished.

"Mira and Miguel put it together for her." Karl said with a nod. "Neural sensors, so she doesn't have to use voice commands or get anyone to move her. She is strong willed."

"Are you serious about medical personnel?" Two asked, her tone suddenly serious. Karl nodded and Two sighed. "I might know one who would be interested."

"Amelia Priosa." Karl said without looking at her. "Your friend."

"She is a good person, Karl." Two said with a shrug. "And they are not utilizing her to her fullest where she is. Get her here and she will not able to escape."

"Would the Elders agree?" Karl asked, noncommittal.

"I asked." Two said with a shrug. "They said it is your choice."

"Well..." Karl said with a shrug. "We do need more medical personnel. But..." He looked at Two who nodded.

"My...relationship with her..." Two said slowly. "Is less important than her happiness." She slumped a bit. "She is trying, Karl. She is trying so hard. But they won't let her help. They won't let her do anything. They won't even let her help with research. She isn't Tenno. It's not..." She sighed deeply. "It's not distrust, it's more... I don't know." She said with a snap.

"Us and them?" Karl asked softly. Two turned her head to stare at him and he nodded. "Tenno can be just as prejudiced as any, Two. More. Serene walked alone for a long, long time. You may not have seen it in her memories. I have seen it firsthand." Two stopped short and slumped a bit in place. Karl stopped with her.

"I didn't want to say that." Two said sadly. "I don't want to speak ill of our kin."

"You are not." Karl reassured her gently. "You are speaking the truth. Hard truths can hurt, Two. But they are always better than lies." Two slumped a bit and Karl laid a massive hand on her warframe's shoulder. 'Your clan has been giving you problems." It wasn't a question.

"Bad enough I am a clone." Two said in a monotone. "But then my relationship with Amelia... They stopped joking, Karl."

"I see." Karl said with a wince. He had heard of Serene's clan. They had a reputation as inveterate pranksters. More than a few of those pranks had even caught Karl's attention. The one about the four hundred rolls of toilet paper and the Elder's office after hours had been _hilarious_. When they _stopped_ joking... "And Jasmina?"

"She is the same." Two said, her tone still lifeless. "But the others...I am not Serene."

"No, you are not." Karl agreed. "Two? Are you happy there?" She shook her head silently. "If you want a place here, you would be welcome." Two jerked at his quiet words.

"But... I..." Two stammered. "I have Serene's memories."

"But you are not her." Karl said, his tone still gentle. "Two, I am not who I was." He tapped her helmeted forehead. "You don't have to give me an answer now. You don't have to answer at all. I don't love you." His voice was kind.

"I know." Two said softly. "And... I don't love you either. Can we... Could we make this work?" She asked, not sure about this at all.

"We can but try. I need someone I can trust to talk back to me, Two." Karl said, stepping back. "Tenno will in charge. But we will be busy as all get out. The staff here will be a mix. Cora was Grineer, Jimmy is no longer human. He may not be mortal anymore, we haven't actually looked at all his modifications. Mira, Miguel and Karen are human and were badly abused. Can I trust you to work with them? Not around them or through them? _With_ them?"

Two stared at him, and then spoke one word. Ancient Japanese that Karl had taught Serene long ago. "Hai." It meant 'Yes'.

"I won't ask for your oath now, Two." Karl said easily. "It is not a small step. Think about it. I have others coming I need to talk to. But..." He reached into a fold of his robes and pulled something out. A dojo key. Two stared at the object in his hands, obviously unable to speak. "I will talk to the Elders, get Amelia here as soon as possible. Even if you decide not to join us, you will need a way to visit your love."

"Karl..." Two stammered. "I can't..."

"All I ask is that you give us some warning." Karl said with a nod. "Don't surprise us, we don't like surprises." He extended the key to her. She stared at him, then slowly took the key. As she did, it glowed brightly, then darkened back to gray metal. "We do follow Bushido, Two. But each of us' interpretation of the Way must be different. None of us are the same as any other."

"Hai." Two repeated, her voice stunned. "Karl... I..."

"Go, Two." Karl said kindly. "Report to the Elders. Tell them I will be in touch. And, if you so choose..." He froze as she knelt at his feet. "Two." He said sharply as her helmet opened, showing tears falling from her eyes.

"Sister to brother." Two said slowly. "Yours in life and death. My sword, my soul, my service. I swear."

"Two." Karl said with a sigh. "Dang it, you are just as stubborn as Serene, aren't you?" He asked with a sour smile.

"I come by it honestly." Two said, not moving. Indeed, she bowed her head. "This feels...right." She said with a swallow. "Serene's clan...did not."

"Our rules are strict but fair, Two." Karl warned her. "There will be _no_ rebellions in _this_ clan." Iron might have bent under Karl's tone. If it had sense anyway it would. "If there is a problem, I expect my clan mates to handle it with honor. If they cannot, I expect them to bring it to _me_. If 'I' cannot decide how to handle it, I will take it to the Elders. That is our way."

"I understand." Two said, not moving. "I will obey."

"Not blindly." Karl said with a sigh. "I am not perfect. If you see me making a mistake, tell me. I follow Bushido, but it will not cover _all_ situations. The rest I am making up as I go."

"Sounds familiar." Two said, a hint of humor surfacing. "Sister to brother, yours in life and death." She repeated again.

"Two, do you have permission from your clan for this?" Karl asked worriedly. "The _last_ thing we need is a conflict between two clans of Tenno right now. We have _enough_ enemies."

"I told Jasmina I was looking for another way and why. She got an odd look in her eyes..." Two said with a wince. "One that... I really it hate to say it, but it looked like she was going to..._talk_ to some people." She said with a shudder. "She said I had to find my own way but she would always count me a friend. I am glad."

"Certainly don't want to be her enemy." Karl agreed. "Are you sure?" He asked carefully. In answer, she knelt until her head nearly touched the floor.

"Sister to brother." Two repeated quietly, but with certainty. "Yours in life and death."

"Brother to sister." Karl replied in the ancient formula. "Yours in life and death. Rise, Sister Two. Rise and join us in our duty." Two rise and met his gaze levelly. "Now, you have a report to file and a medical person to spring from captivity and bring?" He said quietly. She nodded. "Get to it. I have another appointment." He made a shooing gesture and she smiled as she started off. "Crazy girl..." He murmured.

"I heard that!" Two's voice held humor as she left the hall. As she did, two other warframes entered it from the other end. An Excalibur Prime and a Trinity. Karl nodded and started to meet them.

"Alicia, Will..." Karl said warmly. "Good to see you."

"Well, your offer sounded interesting." The Excalibur said with a nod. "Nice place." Karl nodded, it was the truth. "Was that Two who just left?"

"Yeah." Karl said sourly. "She just swore to me. Silly girl."

"Not silly." The Trinity, Alicia, corrected him. "Determined. Brings to mind other Tenno I can think of. Naming no names." She had a grin in her voice. "Oh and speaking of..." She held out a package to Karl who took it gingerly. "Lou was a bit worried that you might take offense. He sent your mods with me."

"Smart Tenno." Karl said with a slightly savage grin. One that faded. "Have you given my proposal any thought?"

"Well..." Will said with a shrug. "New beginnings are rarely easy. But you do have a solid base of support personnel and a nice base of operations. Bushido is a hard road, but one that both Alicia and I feel we can walk." Alicia nodded to Will's quiet words. "If you don't mind, can we look around a bit first? Meet everyone?"

"Sure. Everyone but Two. But you know her, right?" Karl said with a nod. Excalibur and Alicia returned the nod with their own. "Right this way." He led them out the door.

_Maybe not the most auspicious of beginnings._ Karl thought as he walked. _But a beginning nonetheless. Even if Alicia and Will don't join, we will find others. And we will show the enemies of the Tenno what honor truly is. Those who survive will learn. Or pay the price dishonor brings._


End file.
